Musharaf Hassan, a journalist working for registered online news organisation ‘MVYouth’, has alleged that he was arbitrarily arrested, threatened and tortured by police in Hulhumale’ on Saturday night.
”I was waiting near my flat with two other journalists who work with me and a friend, and the police vehicle stopped by and started searching our bodies one by one,” he told Minivan News. ”After checking our body the police ordered us inside our house, and we waited on the ground floor of my flat where I live because one of us have not returned yet.”
Musharaf said that while they were waiting, the police team returned and shouted at them, saying they would be arrested. All of them ran inside their apartment, he said.
”They followed us into our apartment and so I locked myself inside my room,” said Musharaf. ”They knocked on the doors of the rooms and warned that they would force the door open, so I opened it.”
Police officers pulled Musharaf’s hair and pushed him inside the police vehicle, he said.
”They tortured me inside the police vehicle and one of them said to the other that I was a journalist from MVYouth, and said that the next day this story would be all over the news,” he said. ”And then they threatened me that if this story was in the news, it would be harder for me the next time they caught me.”
Musharaf said he was released after about an hour, and that on the police slip they gave him it said he was arrested to search his body.
”But they did not search my body after arresting me,” he said. ”I think it was a deliberate attack on MVyouth, we have been under a lot of pressure from the police after we published some videos of police torture and another video showing police violently attacking a person near BG [a well-known club in Maafannu].”
He also claimed that police media had refused to co-operate with the news organisation.
Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that the police had no information that police officers attacked a journalist or any one specifically.
”Police always share information to all the media equally, and everyone is invited to police media briefings,” he said.
Police recently launched a three year strategic plan giving high priority to curb rising gang violence in the Maldives. Police recently said that they would be conducting special operations to reduce crime and would take any necessary measures to bring criminals to justice.
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