MP Meekail ejected from Parliament chambers

Meekail Ahmed Naseem, a lawmaker from the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), was ejected from the Parliament chambers on Thursday, citing violation of the legislative assembly’s standing orders and refusal to follow instructions of the Speaker.

The incident took place after the South Galolhu representative had an emergency motion he submitted over the recent imprisonment of two journalists thrown out of the Parliament, with Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla deciding it was “not fact-based.”

After his motion was rejected, the Parliament began debating on a government-drafted cybersecurity bill sponsored by Central Henveiru MP Hussain Nasih.

Utilizing his chance to speak during the debate, Meekail made several references to aspects of a criminal trial against top officials from local news outlet ‘Adhadhu’ which the Criminal Court has banned anyone from discussing “either directly or indirectly” under a controversial blanket gag order.

Abdul Raheem repeatedly interrupted Meekail as he made these references, and told him to stick to debating on the bill at hand. Meekail asserted that the remarks were relevant to the bill, and continued his speech.

Abdul Raheem had the power to his mic cut twice.

Meekail continued to protest loudly even without a mic, prompting Abdul Raheem to name him and ask him to leave the chambers.

He was escorted out by security personnel.

Rejection of emergency motion

In his emergency motion, Meekail accused authorities of curtailing the constitutional right to freedom of the press, persecuting journalists, and obstructing them from doing their legal duties.

But Abdul Raheem decided the motion was baseless.

“Emergency motions submitted to the Majlis must be based on something that actually happened,” said Abdul Raheem. “This motion is not based on any fact. Therefore, I hereby announce that this motion cannot be accepted into the Majlis.”

Crackdown on 'Adhadhu'

Two journalists from Adhadhu, Mohamed Shahzan and Leeval Ali Naseer, were imprisoned on Tuesday on charges of contempt of court for violating a blanket gag order issued by the Criminal Court.

Shahzan was sentenced to 15 days in prison, while Leevan was sentenced to 10 days.

The gag order was issued in a criminal case against Adhadhu CEO Hussain Fiyaz Moosa and editor Hassan Mohamed on charges of making false accusations of adultery in a documentary the news outlet published on March 28.

The blanket gag order issued on Sunday 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 were 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, appeared at court on Wednesday for preliminary hearings in the case against them.

The Maldives Journalists Association (MJA), Transparency Maldives, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) have all expressed concern over the situation.