The Adhaalath Party has attacked daily newspaper Haveeru for publishing an apparent advertisement for alcohol in its May 19 edition, calling on “concerned authorities” to investigate the matter.
The party claimed this act of Haveeru news violated article 27 of the Constitution, guaranteeing freedom of expression “subject to the tenets of Islam.”
” The ad consists of a label of a certain brand of whiskey and had no name or contact number associated with it,” the Adhaalath Party said on its English-language website.
The party claimed it was “surprised and shocked” that as the Maldives is a 100 percent Muslim nation, such an act should not happen “since all the ads published in the local newspapers are screened for conformity with the laws and regulations of the country.”
The party said the issue was “very serious” and warned it could “disrupt the peace and harmony of the country.”
Editor of Haveeru Moosa Latheef said the newspaper did not advertise alcohol.
”It was a notice sent to us by a whiskey-producing company,” Latheef said. ”The notice was to inform people that the usage of their brand name fraudulent and unauthorised.”
Latheef said that the newspaper had mistakenly failed to include the written notice and published only the whiskey picture.
”Yesterday we wrote that we missed the notice and it was a mistake,” Latheef said. ”We will not promote alcohol in the country.”
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