News Desk
MALE’ — Hussain Fiyaz Moosa, CEO of Adhadhu, and Hassan Mohamed, the outlet’s editor, pleaded not guilty on Monday to qazf charges brought against them by the state, as the Criminal Court held the opening hearing of what has become the most closely watched press freedom case in the Maldives in years.
The state read the charges at the hearing and submitted its evidence. The court gave the defence an opportunity to present its own evidence in upcoming proceedings. The court has ordered the trial to be held confidentially and issued a gag order prohibiting disclosure of details from the proceedings. Lawyers on both sides declined to comment on the specifics of the hearing.
The Prosecutor General’s Office filed the charges within two weeks of the investigation opening. During the police investigation, both Fiyaz and Hassan remained silent, citing their constitutional right to protect journalistic sources. Fiyaz has also refused to comply with a separate Criminal Court order requiring him to hand over passwords for laptops, hard drives, pen drives, cloud storage and social media accounts. He has consistently maintained that complying would compromise the integrity of their journalism.
The case stems from a video documentary published by Adhadhu. The Criminal Court issued a sweeping gag order after the charges were filed, prohibiting any reporting on or reference to the documentary directly or indirectly. Two other Adhadhu journalists were jailed for contempt of court, one for writing about the gag order and one for asking a question about it at a presidential press conference. Both have since been released but their appeal against the convictions is still before the High Court.
The trial now proceeds behind closed doors. The gag order on the documentary remains in place. The passwords have not been handed over. And the two journalists at the centre of the case have entered their pleas.
