MDP's national assembly contributes to 'Dignity Fund'

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP)'s national assembly has made donations to Raajje Television’s ‘Dignity Fund’.

Members of the assembly had congregated at the station’s head office in Malé City to make said donations, and the party’s recently elected chair Hassan Latheef said that party members had keenly requested that MDP make contributions to the fund.

“We have all heard about the hefty fines placed against Raajje Television, and that is why members of MDP’s National Assembly had taken it upon themselves to contribute to this fund, not as part of an official party activity, but in their capacity as people that stand against injustice” Latheef said.

The party’s deputy chair, Ali Niyaz, commended RaajjeTV for its ‘independent’ reportage, adding that the struggle of the free press encourages the opposition’s efforts to hold the government accountable.

“No member of MDP is going to allow a free and independent source of information to be silenced” Niyaz continued.

The station’s Chief Operating Officer, Hussein Fiyaz Moosa had thanked the donators, adding that were it not for the contributions of well-wishers, the station would not exist today.

The station launched its ‘Dignity Fund’ at RaajjeTV’s head office in Malé City on Friday, following a MVR 200,000 fine against it over defamation allegations. This same verdict – put forth by the Maldives Broadcasting Commission (MBC) for alleged violation of broadcast regulations – also fined a former journalist with the station by a sum of MVR 50,000.

“The baseless defamation charges are exceptionally frightening, because they aim to choke and silence journalistic expression, a dark predicament” Fiyaz said at Friday’s event to launch the fund.

Two other journalists with the station had been fined by MVR 28,800 for ‘obstruction of justice’ after they were arrest while covering a bomb scare in Malé City, and cameraman, Adam Zareer, was fined by MVR 3,000 – in what the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) had described as undemocratic and unjust charges.

A credible source has informed RaajjeTV that there is another impending fine of MVR 800,000 against it, also on defamation charges.

The fund has been met with enthusiasm across the nation; with citizens in the atolls having set up donation boxes in solidarity with the station's own fund.

Raajje Television’s management had also said that it was pleased with the acclaim its ‘Dignity Fund’ has amassed.