Ombudsperson's Office to probe three cases filed by RaajjeTV
One of the first tasks of incumbent administration was repealing this law
The arson attack on RaajjeTV, October 2013; CCTV footage shows five masked, armed individuals breaking down the studio door
The Ombudsperson's Office for Transitional Justice has decided to look into three cases filed by privately-owned television station, RaajjeTV.
RaajjeTV headed to the office with the three cases in August.
One of the cases filed at the office by RaajjeTV seeks compensation and justice for the arson attack by a group of masked and armed individuals on 7 October 2013. The station asserts that CCTV footage shows that armed individuals had entered the office’s studio and doused it in petrol before lighting it on fire.
RaajjeTV believes that the arson attack was rooted from the fact that the station did not back down in the face of challenges and attempts of then-political figures to intimidate the station and obstruct its work. The station has sought justice from the Ombudsperson's Office for Transitional Justice as authorities have failed to proceed with the case.
A group of masked men broke down the iron gates and door of RaajjeTV’s studio building in the early hours of 8 October 2013 and torched the studio, located in the Queen of the Night building. The station incurred tremendous losses, totaling MVR 11.65 million.
The second case is regarding the compensation of MVR one million issued in fines by the Maldives Broadcasting Commission against the legal mandate, due to the comments accused to have been made against former president Abdulla Yameen, during a live programme on 26 October 2016.
The third case submitted by RaajjeTV is that of the action taken against the station due to comments made by former MP for Thimarafushi constituency, Mohamed Mustafa during a live programme on 28 July 2017. RaajjeTV has sought from the office to declare the action in violation of the legal mandate and compensate the MVR 500,000 issued in fines.
RaajjeTV received a written response from the office, which revealed that the office will be launching probes in all three cases.
The Ombudsperson's Office is an independent legal entity afforded with the powers to communicate, file lawsuits and receive court charges in cases of human rights violations by those who hold high-ranking positions in the government and related institutions
The Transitional Justice Act provides a legal framework to review and investigate cases in which high-ranking leaders in government institutions, authorities and other parties have infringed upon the essential rights and freedoms afforded to Maldivian citizens in the Constitution, between 1 January 1953 and 17 November 2018. The Act ensures transitional justice is afforded to citizens who have been harmed as such in any way, irrespective of changes in the government.
RaajjeTV is the first ever news station across the Maldives to have begun broadcasting on a round-the-clock basis and has faced numerous challenges since its establishment in 2010. The channel was subject to harassment and gross discrimination during the tenure of now incarcerated ex-president Yameen. As such, the station was fined under the draconian Anti-Defamation Freedom of Speech Act passed by the previous administration, a number of times, the fines reaching MVR 3.7 million in total. Some of the station’s employees have also been victimized by police brutality and harassment from then ruling-party protestors over the years as well as prosecution.
One of the first tasks of incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was repealing the anti-defamation law, a major pledge of his presidential campaign in 2018.
