Abstract
Independent journalists are being detained and prosecuted in the Maldives.
President Abdulla Yameen before his inauguration in 2013
CREDIT: Zheng Huansong/Rex/Shutterstock
These arrests are the latest in a series of crackdowns on the media by the government, which does not like opposition to its plans for massive tourism development, or any exposure of corruption that might tarnish its image.
Ismail Rasheed, former editor of Channel News Maldives, was made to close the web-site last June. “What I can say is that the pressure came right from the top,” he said. “I was told we had no choice but to take it offline.”
The final straw for the website, known for its exposés of abuses of human rights, was a series of articles alleging corruption by Maldives President Abdulla Yameen’s wife.
CNM is not the only news outlet to suffer this fate over the past year. The Maldives’ oldest newspaper, Haveeru, was also forced to shut last April. Journalists, who remained defiant despite death threats, murder attempts and the disappearance of a colleague, now opt for self-censorship because of the threat of jail under a new defamation law.
It was not always that way. The press flourished under former President Mohamed Nasheed, who ended 30 years of authoritarian rule in 2008. Until the mid 2000s, the main source of news was state television and radio, and three dailies owned by cabinet ministers. By 2012, there were at least six private television channels and an array of online media, most of which were controlled by politicians or tourism tycoons. But as one editor puts it, if you wanted to find out a specific perspective, it was available. Things changed when Nasheed was ousted and Yameen assumed office in 2013.
“What we saw was an increase in attacks on journalists and a policy by regime officials to buy out independent media,” said Ismail Naseer, a former editor at Haveeru, which was shut after more than 30 years in print when a court split the paper’s ownership. Prior to its closure, the paper lost five of its most senior and promising journalists when Yameen’s right-hand man, Ahmed Adeeb, offered them cash to set up a rival news outlet.
At opposition-aligned Raajje TV it was a similar story. Half of the station’s newsroom quit in 2014 to set up a new television channel, also funded by Adeeb. At the time the station was reeling from an arson attack that had destroyed its headquarters.
Under Yameen, state-owned enterprises have also begun pulling out advertising from independent media. Editors say state companies regularly threaten to terminate contracts over critical articles.
When news from the Maldives made global headlines, the country’s tourism bosses, many of whom sit in parliament, worried that coverage, including of high levels of theft from state coffers, might deter tourists.
The tourism minister has hired seven public relations firms in China, Germany, the UK, India, France, South Korea and the USA to counter what he called misinformation that has tarnished the Maldives’ reputation.
Yameen, who is seeking re-election in 2018, has also restricted the foreign press’ access to the country.
Most irksome to the government was coverage of Islamic extremism by international media: in 2015, a four-member TV crew with German broadcaster ARD was deported and slapped with a 10-year ban for filming without a permit. Police also closely monitor foreigners visiting inhabited islands or asking too many questions.
JJ Robinson, a journalist who worked in the Maldives for four years, explained why the government was so sensitive about negative coverage, which has a substantial impact on tourism, “although not directly by discouraging audiences from visiting”.
He said: “Rather, these reports contribute to travel advisories and insurance company risk assessors, which in turn have a significant influence on the large package holiday companies responsible for most of the tourism arrivals.”
Robinson warned the policy would only backfire in the long run. “Hanging up a ‘nothing to see here’ sign is a great way to bring a flock of suspicious reporters disguised as tourists,” he said.
The press is not about to give up. The team behind CNM have now set up Voice of the Free Press. “What else can we do? We have a social responsibility,” said Rasheed, now the editor of VFP. “The future looks bleak. But we have seen worse.”