RaajjeTV to appeal verdict on Wisam, Leevaan

RaajjeTV has announced that the channel will contest Tuesday’s Criminal Court verdict on two journalists of the channel, Mohamed Wisam and Leevaan Ali Nasir. Criminal Court fined the two journalists by MVR 28,800 each on charges of obstruction of Police duties.

A statement released by the station said the verdict was devoid of legal substance and facts.

The entire ruling was based on the statements given only by the prosecution’s witnesses – statements given by Police officers who had allegedly assaulted the two young journalists. The Court had failed to take in the statements and eye witness accounts of the defense.

RaajjeTV Chief Operating Officer Hussain Fiyaz Moosa was arrested alongside Wisam and Leevaan on the night of November 2, 2015. The three were apprehended while covering Police attempts to defuse a bomb planted near the Presidential Palace. During their detention, the three journalists were assaulted. Wisam sustained injuries to his eye, while Fiyaz was hit on his ear. At the time of the verdict, the assault cases had been languishing in National Integrity Commission for over a year. Delivering guilty verdicts on individuals wronged is an added injustice. National Integrity Commission had in the space of the whole year had only been able to take the statements of the journalists in question.

The state’s persecution against RaajjeTV is starkly visible and noted by international agencies working for the betterment of journalists. Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) had called the efforts of RaajjeTV journalists well within their mandate to inform the public. They are not “guilty” of any other charge than this. The Committee also adds that authorities have for years singled out RaajjeTV for harassment. Reporters without Borders (RSF) have also condemned attacks on media by the Government, calling the move “draconian” and “regressive”.