Maldives / Asia

News outlets in the Maldives are closing down, one after another. The story at each publication is different, sometimes complicated, but the outcome is the same: journalists are facing a tougher time doing their jobs.

On April 12, 2016, Adam Zareer, a videographer for the pro-opposition Maldivian television station Raajje TV was served a summons to appear in court on April 24 on charges of obstructing police duties while reporting on an anti-government demonstration in March 2015, according to the Maldives Independent and a fellow Raajje TV journalist writing on…

New York, April 11, 2016–Maldivian prosecutors should drop charges against journalists and an executive from a pro-opposition television station, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The charges come amid a mounting crackdown on press freedom in the country.

Dear President Yameen: The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent international press freedom organization, is writing to express its concern about a Maldivian journalist who has been missing for a year and to call on your government to ensure a credible and independent investigation into his disappearance.

March 26, 2015, New York–Authorities in the Maldives should immediately release three journalists detained this week while covering political demonstrations in the archipelago nation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, August 19, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the safety of a journalist in the Maldives who has been missing since early August and calls on authorities to thoroughly investigate his disappearance.

New York, October 7, 2013–Authorities in the Maldives should conduct a thorough and efficient investigation into an arson attack on the offices of a TV news station in Male, the capital, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Sun Media reported that one of its journalists was briefly detained by police for photographing a government building in Malé, the capital, on March 26, 2013. The media group is based in the Maldives and covers local and world news for online, print, and radio.