Three former presidents write to development partners over gag order and jailing of journalists

Former Presidents Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, Mohamed Nasheed and Ibrahim Mohamed Solih have sent a joint letter to the Maldives’ key development partners and diplomatic missions, expressing deep concern over what they describe as a rapid deterioration of democratic governance in the country.

The letter, issued Tuesday, highlights the 10 May gag order imposed by a Maldivian court banning all public discussion of a documentary alleging misconduct by the President, the first such blanket prohibition in the country’s democratic history.

Two days later, on 12 May, Adhadhu journalists Mohamed Shahzan and Leeven Ali Naseer were sentenced to 15 and 10 days in prison for breaching the order. The proceedings were held behind closed doors, and the journalists were given only two hours to secure legal counsel. The letter notes that this is the first time journalists have been jailed in the Maldives since the 2008 Constitution came into force.

The three presidents said protesters who took to the streets calling for the journalists’ release have also been arrested, describing the situation as a matter of “greatest concern” for those who have supported the Maldives’ democratic transition.

“A free press is among the clearest markers of the democracy we built together, and its suppression follows a broader pattern of backsliding,” the letter states, citing the disempowerment of Parliament, the undermining of independent commissions, and the passage of a media law that empowers a government‑aligned commission to discipline and shut down outlets.

The letter also notes that instead of reflecting on its defeat in the recent council elections and the 69 percent rejection of its constitutional referendum, the government appears to be “escalating its assault on the institutions that hold it to account.”

The three leaders further warned that the Maldivian economy is in acute distress, with vanishing reserves, an unsustainable debt burden and limited capacity to meet obligations to partners and creditors. They said the combination of economic fragility and democratic erosion places the country “on a path towards state failure.”

“Across the political divides of our respective presidencies, we have come together in defence of the democracy our people built,” the letter says.

Concluding the letter, the three former presidents urged development partners to press the government to immediately release all journalists detained under the gag order, free those arrested in connection with the protests, and halt what they describe as unlawful prosecutions.