Maldives jails two journalists for reporting on president’s alleged affair
Key takeaways
- Rights groups condemn jailing of journalists for violating a gag order on allegations against President Mohamed Muizzu.
- The journalists, who work for the news website Adhadhu, were sentenced by the criminal court in the Maldivian capital, Male, on Tuesday.
- Shahzan received 15 days in jail and Nasir 10 days.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Rights groups condemn jailing of journalists for violating a gag order on allegations against President Mohamed Muizzu.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Maldives journalists Mohamed Shahzan and Leevan Ali Nasir were sentenced to 15 and 10 days in jail respectively [Courtesy of Maldives Journalist Association]By Al Jazeera Staff Published On 13 May 202613 May 2026Groups advocating for press freedom have called for the release of two journalists who were jailed in the Maldives for violating a gag order banning public discussion of a documentary alleging an affair between President Mohamed Muizzu and a former aide.
The International Federation of Journalists on Wednesday “strongly condemned” the jailing of Mohamed Shahzan and Leevan Ali Nasir while the Committee to Protect Journalists described their sentences as a “punitive attempt to criminalise investigative journalism”.