The Criminal Court has, on Tuesday, ordered the release of RaajjeTV journalist Mohamed Wisam and programmes head Amir Saleem, over lack of evidence.

Wisam and Amir were arrested during a mass anti-government demonstration on March 16, and given a 10-day remand sentence when presented to Court the next day.

They are accused of making a video of masked men in police uniforms threatening to join the opposition protests. The two were arrested after senior ruling party members accused RaajjeTV of making the video and being a terrorist organization.

Wisam and Amir have denied all the allegations, while RaajjeTV accused authorities of attempting to defame the station.

In a press release issued shortly after their arrests, RaajjeTV also denied any wrongdoing by the station and its staff, saying that it “will never encourage or be party to any illegal activity”.

Furthermore, noting that it was senior officials of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) that made the accusation against the station and its staff, before police revealed any information on the matter, RaajjeTV said that this is “a deliberate attempt to slander the station and shut [them] down”.

Hassan Ismail, third suspect arrested over the video was released on Saturday. He was given a five-day remand on the 19th of this month.