Adhadhu journalists Shahzan and Leevan jailed for contempt of court

Two journalists were jailed on Tuesday after the Criminal Court held them in contempt for violating a blanket gag order issued by the court in the trial against top officials from local news outlet ‘Adhadhu’ on charges of making false accusations of adultery.

Mohamed Shahzan and Leevan Ali Naseer, both of them journalists at ‘Adhadhu’, were sentenced following closed-door hearings held on Tuesday.

‘Adhadhu’ CEO Hussain Fiyaz Moosa told Sun that Shahzan was jailed for 15 days, while Leevan was jailed for 10.

He expressed concern that they weren’t given a proper chance to defend themselves against the charges.

Fiyaz and editor Hassan Mohamed are facing charges of Qazf - an Islamic criminal charge over false accusations of adultery - in connection to a documentary the outlet released on March 28.

On Sunday, the Criminal Court issued a blanket gag order, which explicitly prohibits any party from circulating the documentary, from directly or indirectly discussing the contents of the video, or making any comments linking any of the defendants or the victim with the documentary.

Both Leevan and Shahzan are accused of violating the gag order, Leevan with an article published regarding the issuance of the gag order and Shahzan over the questions he directed at President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu on Monday.

Shahzan was kicked out of the press briefing on Monday over the questions, and the President’s Office has banned ‘Adhadhu’ from all future press conferences.

Meanwhile, both Fiyaz and Hassan have travel bans issued against them, and are set to appear at court on Wednesday for preliminary hearings in the case against them.