IFJ rebukes Maldives Police for questioning journalists for information sources

International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called upon the Maldives Police Services to refrain from questioning journalists for their sources of information. IFJ issued a statement expressing their support of the concern of the Maldives Journalists Association over the issue, and criticized the Maldives Police.

“Maldives is one of the few countries where the constitution itself grants journalists the right to withhold information on their sources”, said IFJ’s Asia Pacific Director Jacklin Park, according to the statement pusblished today. According to the statement, this right was a securer of independent journalism, and the duty of journalists to be faithful in performing their duties was also stressed. “We urge the Maldivian government and the police to let the right institutions to handle journalists’ affairs, and to stop police investigations into the work of journalists”, Park said, as reported in the statement of IFJ.

The Maldives Journalists Association(MJA) has also called upon the government and the police to let legally created institutions such as the Maldives Media Council look into issues related to journalistic work, instead of the government and police conducting investigative activities against journalists and media.

The MJA has complained about police enquiries on media outlets after repeated cases of the police summoning journalists for police investigations.