Tag: journalism

IFJ alarmed at MJA claims of spike in hostility towards media

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has issued a press statement expressing alarm at “increasing hostile actions against independent media in the Maldives.”

Verbal attacks and vandalism by unknown persons against private broadcaster VTV had contributed to “a climate of intolerance” against the broadcaster, the IFJ said, “according to information received from IFJ affiliate, the Maldives Journalists’ Association (MJA).”

The IFJ statement also noted that “the MJA has drawn attention to a threat of action held out against VTV by ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, leader of the Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) parliamentary group, following what the MDP leader characterised as ‘repeated’ broadcasts of news stories critical of his party.”

The IFJ further repeated claims by the MJA that Head of the Male’ Municipality Adam Manik had “reportedly attacked” a cameraman belonging to private broadcaster DhiTV, and confiscated his camera.

Manik admitted taking the camera but denied attacking the cameraman, following the incident last week, and returned the item in the presence of police.

“Cameramen are not allowed to film on government property without authorisation,” he said, adding that “the media is too occupied with making the news instead of reporting it.”

IFJ Asia Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said the international organisation “supports the MJA’s effort to dissuade the officials responsible for these incidents, and indeed all individuals, from persisting with such hostile actions against journalists and media organisations.”

“The physical and verbal attacks on media organisations that have been recurring in the Maldives could create an environment that would be adverse to press freedom in the country,” she added.

Press Secretary for the President, Mohamed Zuhair, said he believed “the facts have been overblown and the IFJ misled.”

“The IFJ ought to know that that media in the Maldives was a state monopoly for 30 years and remains exactly as it was under the former regime, with the only change that it can now report freely,” he said. “This is a new concept for them and is why they feel so uncomfortable being taken to task.”

“The government no longer sponsors private media, and while some public officials may show hostility to the media, there is a broader picture – they are immediately accountable.”

Zuhair further alleged that the majority of the members of the MJA “are apologists and sympathisers of the former regime. I don’t think a single journalist involved in the reform process is in the MJA.”

He also claimed that MDP MP Reeko Moosa’s claims regarding the corruption of media “voiced the allegations of many in his party” that private media was being subverted to serve the political interests of its owners.

“I don’t believe people should invest in media for political purposes,” he said. “You don’t go fishing for political purposes – you go fishing for fish.”

PIC report

The MJA has meanwhile also called for the Department of Information to retract a decision to deduct five points from DhiFM’s broadcasting license, after the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) ruled that a police order for the station to cease covering a riot outside the presidential residence on January 28 violated the police act.

Police claimed that the order was given because the DhiFM coverage was broadcast in such a manner that it was a potential threat to national security, however police failed to convince the commission.

Following the incident, the government’s Department of Information docked five points from DhiFM’s broadcasting license for eight contract violations, with the content review committee claiming that DhiFM’s coverage breached aspects of the code including failing to distinguish between fact and opinion, produce unbiased and balance coverage of controversial/political events, and promoting criminal activities as “something good or acceptable.”

Then-Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad, under whose jurisdiction the Department of Information fells, agreed that “in principle this is not something the executive should be doing. But because there is an existing broadcasting contract [under the former administration’s licensing system] we have to fulfil our duty.

He told Minivan News at the time that the five point deduction out of a possible 100 amounted “to a symbolic gesture”.

The MJA meanwhile called on the government to withdraw the decision after viewing the report published by the Police Integrity Commission, and dissolve the Content Committee of the Department of Information.

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MJA condemns Reeko Moosa for “violating media freedom”

The Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) has criticised ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik for interfering with media freedom, following comments Moosa made about the political coverage of private station Villa TV (VTV).

VTV is owned by Jumhoree Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim, one of the country’s most successful businessmen.

In a press statement, the MJA “strongly condemned” remarks made by Moosa on August 17, when the MP publicly threatened “action” against VTV for “repeatedly misleading and broadcasting news in a way that smears respect for MDP”.

“After Gasim was arrested on accusations of corruption, VTV ran round the clock images showing a a burning picture of our Honorable President,’’ Moosa said. “It was encouraging citizens to create chaos.’’

Opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Nihan told Minivan News it was “typical” of Moosa to attack any media that “does not report the way he likes.”

The MJA meanwhile accused Moosa of attempting to “violate media freedom”, and “threaten journalists and media organisations.”

“MJA also sad to note that a senior official of MDP – a party known for voicing free media – has repeatedly slated the media… and incited public hatred against journalism,” the MJA said.

In a retaliatory statement, Moosa claimed “some TV stations were established with the intention to cause civil unrest among the citizens, smear the respect of political figures in the country, and bother their personal life.”

“I am astonished that the MJA is silent about this matter,” he said, adding that the fact media were airing such claims  was evidence that media freedom existed.

This is not the first time Moosa has had a run-in with a privately-owned television station.

In March another private station, DhiTV, extensively covered a story in which four expatriate men were discovered loading 168 bottles of King Roberts gin and Muirhead whiskey into a car registered to Moosa, on the same day controversial liquor licensing regulations were unveiled by the Ministry of Economic Development.

“Whoever brought that booze out from their warehouse knew it would be confiscated,” noted the President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair, at the time. “Those brands are not what you would call hot sellers – it was menthol gin and watered-down whiskey.”

Moosa, who was in Singapore at the time, claimed his driver was “threatened or bribed” and the incident was a “politically motivated” attempt to discredit him, and noted that DhiTV “has been showing the incident non-stop for 24 hours.”

“The country’s economy in the past was in the hands of a few rich businessmen, and they are unhappy that the new government is not giving into their demands,” he said.

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Dozens of Pakistani MPs have fake degrees

An investigation has found some Pakistani MPs never finished their studies while others bought their qualifications from dodgy colleges, reports the ABC’s Sally Sara.

“A degree is a degree, whether it is fake or genuine,” protested the chief minister of Balochistan Province, Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani, and the the Punjab Assembly passed a resolution condemning the media for breaking the story.

However, the Punjab Assembly has now been forced to back down and yesterday it tried to repair the damage by passing a resolution recognising the pro-democracy role of journalists, lawyers and activists, Sara reports.

Read more

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Commonwealth media development workshop concludes

Media in the Maldives is “now viewed as the fourth organ of the state” and “has an increasingly important role to play in protecting and preserving human rights in society,” President of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives, Ahmed Saleem, told assembled journalists at a media development workshop, a four day event organised by the Commonwealth.

“In fact, the media, as an independent observer with a social responsibility, should value and have knowledge of human rights, more than anyone else. It is therefore vital for the media, as a watchdog and voice of the public, to act in the name of human rights to establish a genuine democracy,” he emphasised.

However, “with rights also come responsibilities. Like any other freedom or right, we often see the freedom of press being abused and misused. For instance,false claims and accusations in complete disregard of the right to privacy, and reporting against the notion of innocent until proven guilty are matters for particular concern. Those operating media work are under a special duty of care and carry a unique social responsibility.”

Saleem was among several high-level speakers who spoke to the Maldives press pack, who included broadcast, radio, online and print reporters. Minister of Tourism Ahmed Ali Sawad also spoke to the journalists, as well as former Information Minister Mohamed Nasheed, and Attorney General Husnu Suood.

Communications Advisor to the Commonwealth Secretariat and organiser of the event, Geraldine Goh – herself a former practicing journalist – observed that many of the conversations were “pretty vibrant. When we first arrived many of the participants were quite timid and shy, and not very confident – many of them were very young with less than two years experience,” she noted.

“But I saw eagerless to learn, inquisitiveness and drive, which has to come from within.”

The course, led by veteran journalists Bhagman Singh and Jayandra Menon from Singapore, was intended “not just to teach, but also to learn and share mutual experiences,” Goh said.

Media in the Maldives was “very partisan”, she observed, and the workshop emphasised the importance of relying on the facts, reporting without bias, “and showing a conviction in the moral values of the media and a duty towards truth.”

“Media ownership” was one issued Goh said journalists needed to be aware of, with political leanings “filtering through to the newsroom.”

“Credibility is so important – if you lose credibility, you lose yourself,” she said.

Ahmed ‘Hiriga’ Zahir, President of the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) which helped to organise the training event, acknowledged the political culture was something the media had to learn to understand and adapt to.

“The Maldives faces a difficult challenge in developing an independent media,” he said.

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Leaked Gitmo documents spark police investigation

Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed has said the ministry yesterday asked police to investigate the case of leaked documents concerning Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Dr Shaheed said the documents consisted of unofficial communications to the Maldives government from the US government, and a document sent to the Attorney General’s office by the Foreign Ministry.

Dr Shaheed said the documents included an unofficial letter sent from the US to discuss how a legal framework could be established to bring in the detainees.

”The documents were sent to Parliament’s National Security Committee by an MP,” Said Dr Shaheed. ”MP Ali Waheed was the person who first spoke about these documents.”

Dr Shaheed said that the person who leaked the documents and delivered them to MPs was responsible for the act.

”The Maldivian government has not officially agreed to bring in the detainees,” he said. ”It is just at an early stage and a group of people who do not properly understand the matter are worried and concerned.”

Independent MP Mohamed Nasheed said the government’s desire to investigate the case was “stupidity and weakness”, ”as there are more concerning issues than the leaked document.”

Nasheed claimed to have seen the documents, summarising the communication in his blog and identifying it as an official diplomatic document sent by the US government to the Maldivian government.

”The government cannot take action against the person who leaked the documents,” said Nasheed. ”There is a law allowing people to inform others if an unlawful activity was going on inside the area in which he or she works, and according to that law, no action can be taken against that person.”

Nasheed said the letter to the AG from Foreign Ministry revealed that the government has already agreed to bring the Guantanamo Bay detainees in the country, but legal advice was needed on the matter.

”That was an official agreement and they are just pretending to make it an ‘early stage negotiation’,” Nasheed said.

He added that the document from the US government consisted of a list of things it believed had been been agreed by the Maldives, and was requesting confirmation.

”One of the leaked document gives information that the former inmate’s communication will be under surveillance and they cannot leave the Maldives,” Nasheed said.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair said that the document was not leaked but was “deliberately stolen”.

Zuhair said anybody who stole the documents has causes “a lot of trouble” for the Maldives, by disrupting diplomatic relationships between countries.

”Now the US government may think that we deliberately leaked the document,” Zuhair said. ”The recipient should be aware that it is unlawful to have a leaked document of the government and should have clarified whether the document was the original before distributing it to everyone.”

Zuhair said the US government had approached the Maldives to handle two detainees from the Guantanamo Bay prison.

”One of them was a man born in the West Bank,” he said. ”We do not have the information on the other person yet,”

He said the Maldives would be receiving “numerous benefits” for accepting the two detainees from Guantanamo Bay prison.

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International Federation of Journalists accepts MJA

The Maldives Journalist Association (MJA) has become an associate member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), giving its members international credibility and recognition as media professionals.

Founded in 1926, the IFJ is the world’s largest journalist organisation with 600,000 members in over 100 countries, and speaks for journalists within the United Nations system. The organisation itself is apolitical but nonetheless promotes human rights, democracy and pluralism. It vehemently condemns the use of media as propaganda or to promote intolerance and conflict.

President of the MJA Ahmed ‘Hiriga’ Zahir said the membership was a “significant achievement” for the rights of the press in the Maldives, and a goal the association had been striving towards for since April last year.

While the membership grants international recognition, ongoing education and development of journalism in the country was still needed, Hiriga explained.

“I know the Faculty of Education is running a course in journalism, but I’ve heard it’s mostly history – I haven’t heard of any experienced specialists teaching there,” he said.

Seeking assistance for the development of Maldivian journalism was one of the requests made by MJA members during a recent trip to the embassies in Colombo.

“We asked for support to help give us training and fund scholarships for Maldivian journalists, but most said they had a tight budget,” Hiriga said.

“They did say they were most concerned about the situation in the Maldives following the recent gang attacks [on media].”

Hiriga said the MJA had also expressed its concerns about indirect oppression of the media “behind the scenes.”

“There is press freedom [in the sense] that the government is so far not directly jailing journalists,” he noted.

In a letter to the MJA, the IFJ said it was pleased to accept the MJA’s membership “and work with it to address the challenges and pressures the Maldives media faces.”

Editor of daily newspaper Miadhu, Abdulla Latheef, said he did not think the IFJ membership would be beneficial for the Maldivian media at-large as “because half [the MJA’s] senior members are from Haveeru [the daily newspaper of which Hiriga is editor].”

Latheef said after gang attacks on television station DhiTV and a Haveeru printery staff member, “the MJA did not even hold a meeting or even check to see whether its members were fine.”

”I believe the organisation is trying to take over the media,” he said. ”I am a member of it, anyway.”

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