Court orders Dhauru to send article on MP Azaan to ‘drafts’ amid lawsuit

The Civil Court issued an injunction on Wednesday, ordering news outlet Dhauru to send a report it published on Central Hithadhoo MP Ahmed Azaan Marzooq to “drafts” as it hears a lawsuit filed by the politician from the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) over the article.

Azaan, a journalist-turned-politician, filed a lawsuit against Dhauru’s editor Moosa Latheef, who penned the report, accusing him of defamation.

The report was published in April under the headline “Adhadhu ah fuluhun vanumaa Azaan kurevvi thajuribaa”, which roughly translates to “The police raid on Adhadhu and Azaan’s experience.”

Azaan asked the court to establish that the report damaged his reputation and order the news outlet to either remove or revise it.

He also asked for MVR 5,000 financial compensation for defamation, as well as compensation for MVR 28,670 in legal costs and the court registration fee.

He also asked for an injunction to have the article status changed from “published” to “drafts” so that people can no longer read it until the court makes its final judgement.

Judge Ali Abdulla granted the injunction on Wednesday, citing reasonable grounds to believe that failure to do so could further harm Azaan’s reputation.

He also noted that the right to protect one’s reputation is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Maldivian Constitution.

He also said that sending the report to “drafts” will not permanently erase it, but keep it out of sight until he makes a final judgement, and that doing so will not result in any harm to Moosa.

Moosa’s report had analyzed the unprecedented police raid on the Adhadhu in April and how a journalist was kicked out and the news outlet banned from the President’s office, and how the former administration had dealt with questions asked by Azan back during his journalism career.