Tag: journalists

Journalists need to act more professionally to prevent further confrontation: MJA, MBC

National media body figureheads have called on journalists to act more professionally to prevent future confrontations between themselves and the public.

Their comments follow a brutal attack on a senior reporter from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)-aligned Raajje TV station, who was left in a critical condition.

The reporter, Ibrahim ‘Aswad’ Waheed, was attacked with an iron bar while riding on a motorcycle near the artificial beach area in the capital Male’.

Two Television Maldives (TVM) journalists were also attacked on the same night with an irritant – reported to be paint thinner in local media – while covering protests on Sosun Magu in Male’.

While no arrests have been reported by police, Maldives Police Service Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef told Minivan News today that “progress” had been made in regard to the investigation.

Senior figures from both Maldives Journalist Association (MJA) and Maldives Broadcasting Commission (MBC) have since said that journalists need to act in a more professional manner in order to help prevent future confrontations between the public and reporters.

MBC Vice President Mohamed Shahyb told Minivan News that journalists have been targeted because “hatred has been building” towards them over a long period of time.

“Some journalists are not doing their work professionally in the Maldives. The biggest problem is that they do not have much education or training [in journalism] and because of that they write anything.

“If the professional standard can be maintained, similar incidents can be contained and controlled,” Shahyb told Minivan News.

The MBC Vice President claimed that there are “too many opinions” leaking into news reports and that politicians need to start “pointing their fingers” at journalists who are not working in the correct manner.

“Social networking is also a big problem. Even if they work professionally, they then go onto social media sites and start expressing their own personal feelings, this is an issue,” Shahyb said.

MJA President, Ahmed ‘Hiriga’ Zahir, expressed similar concern, adding that journalists need to be more impartial with their reporting.

“We need to encourage media to be more objective. When we listen to the TV or radio we can’t tell the difference between an opinion piece or the actual news itself.”

On Saturday, Zahir requested the media to act more professionally and stop “spreading hatred”, while calling for police to give greater protection to journalists.

Meanwhile, President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik called on the media to “encourage stability, unity and harmony” in the country, adding that those responsible for the attacks will be brought to justice.

Police protection kits

Assistant Commissioner of Police Ahmed Saudhee told local media on Saturday that police will now provide safety equipment for journalists when covering protests, and that special efforts will be made to investigate and prosecute the attacks on persons of the media.

“Right now, we can do two things towards extending protection for journalists. As such, we will give special attention to investigate and prosecute the attacks made on the police, and we’ll work hastily to towards this end.

“Next, in order to cover the protests as closely as possible, we will provide the kits used by the police to a selected journalists, for their safety and protection,” Saudhee was quoted as saying in Sun Online.

Police Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Haneef told Minivan News today that the kits will be made available to journalists should they make a request for the equipment.

Violence condemned

Maldivian journalists took to the streets of Male’ yesterday to protests against the recent attacks, joining international organisations who have also condemned the violence.

The United States Embassy in Colombo released a statement on Saturday expressing concern over the attacks on the journalists.

“Freedom of expression is a fundamental democratic right, and we strongly condemn these attacks on Maldives media personnel. We urge all Maldivians to refrain from violence, urge protesters and police to respect the right of all media outlets to cover demonstrations,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, the United Nations in the Maldives said the violence amounted to an attack on freedom of expression and merited “prompt investigations”.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Maldives remains “partly free” environment for media: Freedom House

Media freedom has remained steady in the Maldives following significant gains in 2009, according to a report by Freedom House.

The country was found to be a “partly free” environment for media, with the constitution protecting freedom of expression “but also restricting freedom of speech ‘contrary to the tenets of Islam’.”

The report was published prior to the release of new regulations enforcing the Religious Unity Act, which bans media ‘from producing or publicising programs, talking about or disseminating audio ‘that humiliates Allah or his prophets or the holy Quran or the Sunnah of the Prophet (Mohamed) or the Islamic faith’,” imposing a 2-5 year prison sentence.

Freedom House noted that the overall legal framework protecting free expression “remained weak, with many proposed media reform bills still awaiting passage”, however it praised parliament for passing an amendment to the penal code in 2009 decriminalising defamation.

The organisation noted that legislation to transform the state broadcaster, the Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC), into the Maldives Broadcasting Corporation, a public broadcaster, “was passed in April 2010, but the government delayed implementing the handover.”

Increased media diversity had improved coverage of major political events, including by the state broadcaster, “though the [MNBC] still suffers from pro-government bias.”

Investigative journalism, Freedom House noted, “remains hampered by the lack of an access to information law and a culture of secrecy at government departments.”

While the formation of the Maldives Media Council (MMC) was “cautiously welcomed”, given the preference of advocacy groups for self-regulation, the elections process was criticised for not being sufficiently transparent, and former members of political parties were nominated as candidates to the Council.”

The MMC is currently facing criticism from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for the payment of almost a million rufiya in “living allowances” to Council members beyond their stipulated salaries.

On the advocacy side, Freedom House observed that the Maldives Journalist Association (MJA) “regularly made statements regarding media freedom issues and journalists’ rights during the year, accusing the government and political leaders of interference with the private media in a number of cases”, however it noted that “an alternate group, the Maldives National Journalists’ Association (MNJA), was founded in 2010, reportedly in response to the perceived politicisation of the MJA.”

Private print media had expanded and represented a wide variety of viewpoints, the Freedom House report noted, “however some publications are owned by allies of former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom or other political actors, who exercise considerable control over content. Most newspapers are not profitable and rely on financial backing from businessmen with strong political interests.”

The government had “generally” avoided interfering with internet access, used by approximately 28 percent of the population in 2010, however “the Ministry of Islamic Affairs announced in 2008 that Christian and anti-Islam websites would be blocked, arguing that they could negatively affect belief in Islam, and a number of websites were blocked by the Telecommunication Authority at Ministry’s request during 2009.”

Journalists meanwhile remained subject to “some harassment”, with incidents including an attack in August 2010 on the offices of VTV by “unknown assailants”, “and a police attack on journalists covering a political protest in October.” Verbal attacks included threats against media outlets from Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) MP Reeko Moosa, and repeated death threats against certain bloggers “from Islamist extremists”.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Journalists request participation in military operations

Senior officials at the Maldives National Defence Force have assured journalists that they would take steps to improve communication and transparency between the two groups.

Defence Minister Thalhath Ibrahim Kaleyfaan allegedly told journalists who attended a briefing at the armed forced headquarters today that the ministry would hold a training session to help journalists better report news involving military services, reports local media Haveeru.

Journalists were concerned over the lack of transparency at MNDF, and requested permission to participate in military operations, Haveeru reports.

The ministry said it would make arrangements following this request.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

MJA calls on police to provide opportunity for journalists to cover protests freely

The Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) has called on police and defense forces to provide opportunity for the press to cover protests freely, referring to an incident last night where journalists wearing press identification were ordered to leave the area, effectively bringing the protest coverage to a halt, while those who refused to leave were arrested.

‘’Police last night arrested two journalists and a web developer for the Sun Media group,’’ said the MJA in a press release. ‘’Some of them were arrested while were even wearing the press identification.’’

MJA claimed that journalists covering last night’s protest were physically attacked and one had pepper sprayed directly in the face.

‘’We remind journalists to work responsibly while covering protests or any other activity,’’ the MJA added.

Meanwhile the police issued another statement on the incident saying that they had been  informed that the protesters would be violent.

Police alleged that protesters caused damage to public property and committed arson.

‘’As the police were informed about the plans [beforehand], police met with Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MPs Ahmed Mahlouf and Ahmed Nihan and requested them not to conduct any such activities,’’ said police in the statement.

Police said that protesters disturbed the residents of the area, blocked traffic and that people living in the area were unable to reach their houses.

“Police discovered that lot of loose stones were hidden in the area for the protesters to attack police officers and public property,’’ police claimed. ‘’We also noticed that persons connected with gangs took part in this protest from the beginning.’’

Police also said that where necessary strict action would be taken against those who became violent.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Rebels push Gaddafi back as NATO provides aircover

Forces loyal to Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi have been pushed back by Benghazi rebels after coalition airstrikes grounded both the Libyan airforce and tank columns.

The rebels yesterday retook the oil export towns of Brega and Ajdabiya in the country’s east, the latter 30 miles from the refining station at Ras Lanouf.

Spokesperson for the rebel’s Transitional National Council, Shamsiddin Abdulmollah, told journalists in Banghazi that Gaddafi’s forces were “now on the back because they no longer have air power and heavy weaponry available.”

AFP meanwhile reports that 117 people have been killed and more than 1300 wounded in a week of attacks by Gaddafi’s forces on Misrata, Libya’s third largest city, which has been targeted by snipers and artillery after French aircraft destroyed at least five planes and two helicopters in the region yesterday.

US President Barack Obama stated over the weekend that NATO was fulfilling the UN Security Council’s resolution and that the no-fly zone had been established to protect civilians.

“Make no mistake, because we acted quickly, a humanitarian catastrophe has been avoided and the lives of countless civilians – innocent men, women and children – have been saved,” Obama said.

Gaddafi’s government has accused the international community of pushing the country into civil war by choosing sides: “it is not to protect civilians because now they are directly fighting against the armed forces,” Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim told Associated Press.

Libya’s former ambassador to the United States, Ali Aujali, has meanwhile praised the intervention as warding off “another massacre in Africa that [would have been] remembered like Srebrenica and Rwanda. It was the right action at the right time.”

Meanwhile, the foreign press pack in Tripoli was visibly shaken after a woman in her 30s, Iman al-Obeidi, burst in on foreign journalists at the Rixos Al Nasr hotel to say she had been gang raped by 15 government militia.

Obeidi showed the media slashes and bruises on her body, and screamed as Gaddafi’s media minders hauled her outside. Two journalists who tried to protect Obeidi were punched and beaten by the minders, who smashed cameras and reportedly drew a gun and threatened the media, claiming Obeidi was mentally ill.

Correspondent with the UK’s Channel 4 television station, Jonathan Miller, was knocked to the ground and kicked when he attempted to intervene.

“There was a desperate sense of our failure to prevent the thugs taking her away,” Miller told papers in the UK today. “There was nothing more that we could have done as we were overtly threatened by considerable physical force.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Parliament cuts off live feed to DhiFM, summons journalists

A parliament decision to cut a live feed to private radio station DhiFM and summon some of its journalists before its general affairs committee tomorrow over allegations of contempt during a live broadcast has been roundly condemned by the Maldives Journalist Association (MJA).

”We believe that the media has the authority to report the dialogue of MPs, broadcast what is going on inside the parliament as well as the authority to criticise,” read a press release by the MJA. ”It is a right guaranteed by the constitution and we call on the parliament not to violate that right.”

The MJA notes that the parliament’s action to last week cut the feed – reportedly in response to “disrespect” exhibited to some MPs by DhiFM presenters – was both unwarranted and disproportionate, adding that parliament should have recourse to other means than unilaterally terminating the live coverage of parliament sittings.

”This association does not believe that a responsible institution of the state would have to stop sending live feed to a media outlet in order to complain about its reporting,” reads the MJA statement. ”It is also questionable whether the live feed was stopped after investigating the matter.”

The press association warned that such actions could undermine press freedom by silencing the media.

However, the MJA also called on local media to be responsible in their duties as well as appealing for MPs to ensure the freedoms guaranteed by the constitution are practiced to their full extent.

Parliament Secretary-General Ahmed Mohamed is currently abroad and was unavailable for comment.

CEO of DhiFM, Masoodh Hilmy confirmed that the parliamentary committee sent two letters to the radio station requesting a recording of its ”Breakfast Club” programme last week and summoning the two DhiFM journalists who presented the programme in front of a committee tomorrow.

”We have not yet decided whether we will send the two journalists, because currently we are seeking legal advice to determine whether legally we are obliged to attend parliament if requested,” said Masood. ”We will abide by all laws, and we do not believe that we violated the privileges of MPs.”

Masood characterised the action taken by the parliament as a challenge to the freedom of press.

”It is a step backwards in terms of democracy, I think its the first time in history the parliament has summoned journalists,” he said, adding that the incident was “regrettable”.

Masood added that while DhiFM has not officially been informed that the live feed had been disconnected, “our technical department says that we haven’t been receiving signals from the parliament.”

The MJA’s criticism comes just a month after it spoke out along with other media figures like the editor of Haveeru to criticise police in requesting to speak with some of the paper’s journalists concerning the identity of sources on which it based a report.

The story focused on an alleged blackmail ring that reportedly obtained pornographic images of some high-profile national figures through the internet, which has been the basis of an ongoing police investigation.  Haveeru said at the time that its staff declined to reveal the identities of its sources.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Journalists obstructed us during October protest coverage, say police

The Maldives Police Service has issued a statement following allegations made by the Maldives Media Council (MMC) that police used excessive force on journalists while they were covering the opposition-led protest in October 2010.

”On October 25, the behavior of the journalists covering the riot was different from how they have behaved during other riots, and they were definitely behaving in a way that that obstructed police from carrying out their duties,” said police in a statement.

”The Maldives Police Service hopes that the MMC, as the lawful body [overseeing] the media, will research the degraded actions of a few journalists who were active in the area and will work with them to correct their behaviour.”

The MMC has acknowledged that the behaviour of some journalists covering the riot “lacked discipline and professionalism”.

Police said they respected the media and believed that it was “very necessary in a modern democracy.”

”Police have worked very hard to establish easy ways for the media to gain information they need in matters related to police work,” police said.

The police recommended that the MMC avoid repeated incidents by researching how the media works in other democratic countries when covering riots and dangerous situations.

Several journalists from different media organisations have alleged that police attacked journalists covering the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP)-led protest.

Three journalists from DhiTV, two journalists from VillaTV and one from Miadhu reported that they were attacked by police.

The two journalists from VillaTV were also arrested, handcuffed, and released the same evening.

Following the incident, police claimed that the behaviour of some journalists resembled that of “opposition activists”.

‘’Some journalists opposed police orders and refused to stay in the security zone,” Shiyam said at the time. “It would have gone smoothly if they had worked according to orders given.’’

He said that police some journalists who opposed police orders were moved forcefully.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

HRCM condemns police attack on media

The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has condemned the police reaction towards journalists who were injured while attempting to cover the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) led protest on Monday night.

Several journalists from different media organisations have reported violent police attacks on journalists covering the opposition protest.

A journalist from Miadhu, Three journalists from DhiTV, two journalists from VillaTV, one from newspaper Miadhu and a photographer from Haveeru reported they were attacked by the police.

The two journalists from VillaTV were also arrested, handcuffed, and released the same evening.

‘’As the media is a pillar that plays an important role in democracy, the freedom of media is a right guaranteed under the constitution which cannot be restricted under any circumstances,’’ said the HRCM in a statement. ‘’Persons active in the media have to be given freedom and protection.’’

The HRCM claimed some of the journalists working there were obstructed from conducting their work by using force, and ‘’therefore we condemn these actions.’’

The freedom of gathering shall also be conducted peacefully in a way that it would not be an obstacle for other peoples’ rights.

The commission advised the protesters to pay attention to these issues and  “to keep their actions in accordance with the rules and regulations.”

“And in a situation where gatherings have to dispersed for security reasons, the chance of causing disruption narrows if it is conducted in accordance to the established procedures,’’ the commission said. ‘’We are now investigating the concerning issues raised after the riot.’’

The HRCM called on the police to use methods “that will not injure people and cause disturbance to citizens” when dispersing riots in the future.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Police clash with journalists during opposition protests

Several journalists from different media organisations have reported violent police attacks on journalists covering the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP)-led protest last night.

The protest began last night as a gathering in front of party’s head office, but degenerated into a riot when protesters marched to the President’s official residence of Muleeage.

Police attempted to restrict the activists from going any further when they reached Sosun Magu, but demonstrators broke through police lines and continued their march.

A journalist from Miadhu, Three journalists from DhiTV, two journalists from VillaTV, one from newspaper Miadhu and a photographer from Haveeru reported they were attacked by the police.

The two journalists from VillaTV were also arrested, handcuffed, and released the same evening.

Editor of DhiTV Midhath Hilmy claimed that three journalists from DhiTV were injured during the riot.

“One was hit by a tear gas canister and his head was bleeding, another journalist’s leg was injured,” said Midhath. “Police hit another DhiTV journalist three times in a chest with a baton.”

Midhath said all the journalists from DhiTV was wearing their press identification and were carrying video cameras.

Police were the persons supposed to protect the journalists, Midhath said, adding that he regretted the police attacks and hoped it would not occur next time.

‘’According to video footage take by journalists, I can see police have tried to stop the coverage and sometimes had covered the camera by putting their hands on it,’’ he said. “They also ordered the media to stop the coverage.’’

Editor of Miadhu Abdul ‘Gabbe’ Latheef told Minivan News that according to the injured Miadhu journalist, the police attacked her with baton while she was showing them her press card.

‘’She told me that some of the police referred to her rudely, while other police officers provided assistance to her,’’ said Latheef. “The media should condemn these actions.”

Latheef said he understood that the police were in a difficult situation and  “had communication errors and difficulty identifying journalists.”

‘’The case should be investigated by an independent body,’’ he added.

Local media reported that police actions were violent and hostile, and that police attacked the journalists deliberately while they were staying in the area police officers had advised them to remain in.

However, Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam denied the claims and said some of the journalists working in the area had begun to show the characteristics as the opposition activists and engaged in hostile confrontations with the police.

‘’Some journalists opposed police orders and refused to stay in the security zone,” Shiyam said. “It would have gone smoothly if they had worked according to the orders,’’ said Shiyam. “Some journalists who opposed the police were moved away by using force.’’

He also claimed that journalists had tried to break the police lines and pass through the cordon. A Minivan News journalist was meanwhile obstructed from entering the area to cover the incident.

President of the Maldives Journalist Association Ahmed ‘Hiriga’ Zahir described the incident as “a black day for journalism in the Maldives”, and claimed that at least nine reporters were attacked by police with batons and shields.

“We will investigate each and every injury and ask journalists to send us their accounts of the incident.”

While those injured “were members of the mainstream media, reputable journalists”, Hiriga said he had heard reports that there might have been other journalists in the area “from an underground website”.

“It is an issue and some people have argued that the government should issue media accreditation,” Hiriga said. “The MJA doesn’t agree the government should do this – it needs to be an independent body.”

Image courtesy Maldives Journalists Association.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)