There will be no benefit in using freedom of press to attack the president!
Press in Maldives should not be used as weapons by politicians. Using media to attack the president of the country is not something that will be productive.
There was not a single time in the history of Maldives, where freedom of press was fully guaranteed. In the 30 years of former President Maumoon regime, journalists faced many challenges. These days were darkest days in the history of Maldives journalism.
Manager of a computer sale shop was arrested and all the computers including the supercomputer in the shop for sale were confiscated for publishing an online magazine. Several others were detained with him. There were days when journalists had to work from abroad because the environment Maldives was not safe in Maldives.
Reports of auditor general started becoming public due to a verdict made by the civil court. When Miadhu News published a translation of a report published about an audit report by New York Times, former President Maumoon tried to sue Miadhu News
. At the Civil Court hearings his lawyers said that even if audit reports are published, media can report it only after the court makes a decision about the report. With that logic, only around 40 such cases can be reported out of the more than 200 audit reports published by the Auditor General.
When the case ended, the court ruled that, media can report such cases and it is up to the accuse to prove that they are innocent.
Maldivian media today faces relatively less problems compared to before. Press freedom is more now.
There are some changes that needs to be brought to the anti-defamation law. These things were noted even when it was passed. For example, when media recently reported about the state planning to take a house owned by Ziyath former MD of MMPRC, t media did not care to ask Ziyath about the case. Similarly, when media reported about the information given by MPL, medias are now sued. So such things needs to be resolved.
The media in Maldives hopes to see these problems resolved. The MP who proposed this legislation promised to solve these issues. Media hopes to see a day where media is not used as a political nuclear weapon.
