RaajjeTV COO Fiyaz found not guilty of 'touching an officer without consent'

Criminal Court on Sunday found RaajjeTV's chief operating officer Hussain Fiyaz Moosa not guilty of touching an officer without consent.

The sentencing hearing, which was scheduled abruptly, was held at 3 pm. A sentencing hearing was also scheduled for 10th August, but was cancelled without a reason.

In today's hearing, the Court noted that there were inconsistencies in the testimonies given by state witnesses. The defence had noted the state witnesses included the same officer who Fiyaz had allegedly 'touched', adding that even he was unable to say how Fiyaz had touched him, in his testimony.

Fiyaz was initially charged with assaulting a police officer, but was later revised to 'touching an officer without consent', a third-degree crime, after the Court noted inconsistencies in the charges raised against him.

The journalist who has over 17 years of experience was charged over an arrest made in November 2015, while covering a bomb scare in the capital Malé City. This was the first time he had ever been accused of such a thing.

RaajjeTV journalists, Mohamed Wisam and Leevaan Ali Nasir were arrested with Fiyaz, and were charged with obstruction of law enforcement officers.

While they were found guilty of the crime in December 2016 despite various inconsistencies in the trial, they were sentenced to pay a fine of MVR 28,800, per person, on January 24.

In addition to the three, RaajjeTV cameraman Adam Zareer was found guilty of obstruction, over an arrest made while covering an opposition rally, and his sentencing hearing has been scheduled for February 27. Wisam was also arrested with Zareer at the rally, and was acquitted in March.

RaajjeTV has, on numerous occasions, said that the charges raised against its journalists were 'based on non-existent grounds'.