Maldives journalists in Colombo to seek diplomats support

A group of prominent Maldivian journalists are Colombo bound early next week to seek international support to save the country’s deteriorating media freedom.

The visit follows an unprecedented spate of attacks on journalists, incidents of gangs breaking into media outlets and threatening officials whilst some journalists have been dealt in the streets.

President of the Maldives Journalist Association Ahmed Zahir, Vice President Ali Shamman and its Treasurer Midhath Adam are arriving in Colombo on March 21, to urge diplomats to apply pressure on the government to stop its media battering.

The rise in the number of attacks and its close frequency has almost created a fear psychosis amongst journalists.

So much so they are now “afraid to come forward to present news or to go out for reporting,” Ahmed Zahir who is also the Executive Editor of the Maldives Daily Haveeru told the Asian Tribune.

“They [diplomats] think the Maldives is a democratic country but the ground situation is not so,” Zahir said.

On Monday five DhiTV senior officials were attacked by a gang and hours later on the same day a Haveeru employee was stabbed.

On its 2 o’clock news DhiTV had reported that an alleged gang leader Ibrahim Nafiz (Chika) has been released to house arrest, prompting a gang to attack the DhiTV studio.

Zahir said that the Maldives Human Rights Commission in a report issued on March 9 said that the society’s level security is low due to criminals being released.

Without specifically referring to any criminals, Zahir said such moves endanger the entire society.

He said the Maldives’ media is still in its infancy and when such threats are there, it may not be good for the country’s budding democracy.

DhiTV and its sister station DhiFM have been harassed by the government on many occasions.

On March 8, a crew of the opposition-leaning private television station DhiTV was forced to leave a general meeting of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party held at the Lale International School in Hulhumale.

Reacting strongly to the MDP’s move, the MJA then told the ruling party that it should know “pluralism is the essence of democracy.”

Previously too, cops entered DhiTV studios and ordered that it stop the live coverage of an opposition DRP protest on January 28.

The government later said according to present media regulations such coverage amounted to inciting people into violence.

- Asian Tribune -