Ex-Attorney General slams correctional service over warning journalists

Former Attorney General Husnu Suood has slammed the Maldives Correctional Services for its cautionary circular to journalists.

The institute on Monday night said that it will take action against news outlets and journalists that publish testimony and comments from incarcerated individuals without authorization.

Suood said that the Maldivian constitution guarantees journalists the right to pursue and publish any information that is fact, and that taking action against those who do so is criminal.

He further said that, to penalize journalists that report a matter instead of its source, is also unconstitutional.

The correctional service's circular warned journalists against doing so, and called on them to abide the institution’s regulations and to seek permission.

News outlets have published several stories on statements that jailed former vice president Ahmed Adeeb gave while in incarceration.

Adeeb and his legal team have been active in a much-lauded and supported struggle against the state to receive permission for treatment abroad. The government has refused to oblige to his health concerns.

Further, Adeeb has also – on separate occasions – released statements that claim the prison sentences passed against former Defense Minister Mohamed Nazim and opposition leader Imran Abdulla were unlawful.

Adeeb has said that he can provide evidence that the trial against the aforementioned two have been unlawful as well.