IFJ condemns police brutality, calls to respect the rights and duties of journalists

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has released a statement condemning the police brutality against reporters covering an opposition rally on Wednesday.

“The IFJ Condemns the Maldives police for roughing up and arresting journalists who were carrying out their professional duty of covering the opposition rally in Malé. The act is a clear violation of journalists’ rights to cover events; and was carried out to intimidate the journalists and stop them from informing the public” the federation said, further “urging the Maldivian government to order the police to respect journalists”.

Seven journalists were apprehended while on scene covering the rally, and they had reportedly been subject to physical violence. There are also reports from several media organizations of damaged equipment.

In a statement, Raajje Television said that one of their journalists was load onto a police vehicle, where they pushed him to its floor and proceeded to assault him. Murshid Abdul Hakeem reported difficulty breathing for hours afterwards and had been admitted to the hospital before being discharged in the early hours of Thursday.

“RaajjeTV believes that the purpose of arresting the journalists and mishandling them was to hide the unlawful activities being carried out by the police” the station said in a statement.

The police have been heavily active in their attempts to quell serial opposition rallies sparked by the arrest and prosecution of several of their key figures.