PG Office calls accusations in Dhiyares' article "lies", decides to file case at MMC

The Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office has decided to file a case at the Maldives Media Council (MMC), against online news outlet ‘Dhiyares’.

This is regarding an article published on Dhiyares, accusing Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem of bias in the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption case. The article, titled ‘Decision made to not probe government officials involved in the MMPRC corruption’, was published on June 19 with a photo of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and Shameem. It claims that the PG has decided not to probe government officials and ruling party lawmakers involved in the scandal.

Denying the claims made by the news outlet, the PG Office released a statement on Sunday. The Office said that PG Shameem has not given any instructions to anyone, to not investigate specific people involved in the graft, or to not accept or proceed with cases related to certain individuals. Furthermore, the statement highlighted that the Office has not decided against pressing charges against any of the cases submitted, and that all relevant documents will be available in writing.

The PG Office also noted that it does not have any authority during the investigation stage as per the country’s laws and stressed that there are investigative bodies to decide on how to conduct an investigation.

Criticizing Dhiyares, the statement stressed the importance of obtaining both sides of a story before publication. It said that the news outlet had not even attempted to obtain a comment in regards to the article, despite the accusations against the PG and Office. It noted that such "lies" will lead to loss of trust in the institution.

Further noting that this is against the recognized ethics of the profession and best practices, the PG Office said that it will be filing a case against Dhiyares at the Maldives Media Council.

The statement assured that all required work is being carried out in the MMPRC corruption case “without any exceptions”, given that it is in the public’s interest.

The MMPRC corruption scandal is the largest corruption case recorded in Maldivian history. According to authorities, over MVR 3.3 billion acquired via the leasing of islands and lagoons for tourism purposes were embezzled through MMPRC, during the previous government.

While former President Abdulla Yameen is the only person to have been charged and convicted in relation to the case thus far, this has led to immense criticism.