High Court rejects MJA’s appeal of contentious gag order

The High Court has rejected an appeal filed by the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA), challenging a sweeping gag order issued by the Criminal Court earlier this week, which the association alleges unduly restricts the rights of freedom of speech, media and information.

The gag order in question was issued by Criminal Court Judge Muzammil Nasir on May 10, in a criminal case against top officials from local news outlet Adhadhu.

Adhadhu’s CEO Hussain Fiyaz Moosa and editor Hassan Mohamed are on trial on charges of Qazf - an Islamic criminal charge over false accusations of adultery or fornication - in connection to a documentary the outlet released on March 28.

Meanwhile, two journalists from the news outlet, Mohamed Shahzan and Leeval Ali Naseer, were imprisoned on May 19 on charges of contempt of court for violating the blanket gag order issued in connection to the case.

The High Court rejected the appeal on Sunday, citing that the MJA does not have the right to appeal the gag order.

The decision was made by the court’s registrar Mariyam Hoorusheeda.

The gag order in question 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.

The MJA filed its appeal with the High Court on Thursday, challenging what it called a sweeping order “unduly restricts the constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of speech, freedom of the media and information.”

The MJA has appointed Hassan Falah as the lead counsel for the association, and has stated that additional members would be appointed to the legal team once the case was registered with the High Court.

The association added that it welcomed anyone affected by the order to join the appeal as intervening parties.

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.

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

The police had stormed Adhadhu’s office in Male’ City on April 27, seizing multiple electronic devices, including laptops and hard drives. The court has issued an order instructing the news outlet to share the passwords for the devices with the police. However, Adhadhu refused to share it, citing the need to protect their source.

The imprisonment of the journalists have sparked concern from both local and international media agencies, with the MJA, Transparency Maldives, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) all demanding their immediate release.