Appeal has been filed in High Court for RaajjeTV journalist Mohamed Wisam and Leevaan Ali Nasir, both who had been found guilty of charges of obstruction of Police duties.

Both journalists were sentenced on January 24 and Judge Ahmed Shakeel had penalized the two by MVR 28,800 each. In the hearing, Judge Shakeel stated that it was a criminal offense to prevent an officer of the law from fulfilling his duties.

Though the offense is punishable by a jail term, he noted that neither Wisam nor Leevaan had any prior offenses and as such sought to penalize the two. State prosecutors had called for the jail term penalty of four months and 24 days.

Wisam and Leevan were arrested on November 2, 2015, along with Raajje TV’s Chief Operating Officer, Hussain Fiyaz Moosa, while covering police attempts to defuse a bomb planted near the presidential palace. The three were released the following day, and accused police of beating them while they were in custody, however, the police have denied the journalists were beaten. In April 2016, Wisam and Leevan were charged with obstructing police; COO Fiyaz was charged with assaulting a police officer.