Maldives jails two journalists for reporting on president's alleged affair

"Rights groups advocating for freedom of the news media have called for the release of two journalists who have been jailed in the Maldives for violating a gag order banning public discussion of a documentary alleging an affair between President Mohamed Muizzu and a former aide. The International Federation of Journalists strongly condemned the jailing of Mohamed Shahzan and Leevan Ali Nasir while the Committee to Protect Journalists described their sentences as a punitive attempt to criminalise investigative journalism."

"The journalists, who work for the news website Adhadhu, were sentenced by the criminal court in the Maldivian capital, Male, on Tuesday. Shahzan received 15 days in jail and Nasir 10 days. Muizzu's spokesperson, Mohamed Hussain Shareef, rejected the criticism, saying any attempts at portraying the criminal proceedings as an attack on free press are unwarranted and politically motivated."

"The case centres on a documentary titled Aisha, which was released on Adhadhu's social media accounts on March 28. It featured an anonymised interview with a woman who claimed to have had a sexual relationship with Muizzu, 47, a married father of three. Muizzu has dismissed the allegations as baseless lies. Police raided Adhadhu's offices in April over the documentary's release, seizing the laptops of journalists, marketing staff and administrators along with hard drives and pen drives."

"According to Adhadhu, Shahzan was jailed after questioning Muizzu about late-night calls he had allegedly made to the former presidential aide. Nasir was jailed for reporting on the gag order itself, which the criminal court issued on Monday at the request of prosecutors. The order, published on the court's website, bans any direct or indirect discussion of the allegations, the charges and the ongoing trials, citing constitutional prov"

Two journalists in the Maldives were sentenced to jail terms for violating a gag order that barred public discussion of allegations connected to a documentary. Mohamed Shahzan received 15 days in jail and Leevan Ali Nasir received 10 days. Rights groups condemned the sentences as punitive and as an attempt to criminalise investigative journalism. The case involves the documentary “Aisha,” released on Adhadhu’s social media on March 28, featuring an anonymised interview from a woman claiming a sexual relationship with President Mohamed Muizzu. Muizzu dismissed the allegations as baseless. Police raided Adhadhu’s offices in April and seized devices. One journalist was jailed after questioning Muizzu about alleged late-night calls, while the other was jailed for reporting on the gag order itself.

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