Nasheed says talk about President is personal and irrelevant, slams arrests of reporters

The current talk about the President is very personal and should not be interfered with, but the concern is that journalists are being arrested, former President Mohamed Nasheed said on Tuesday evening.

Nasheed’s remarks came as two Adhadhu journalists, Leevan Ali Naseer and Mohamed Shahuzan, were jailed Tuesday.

Speaking at a rally in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Nasheed said the talk circulating about the President is something that should not be discussed.

However, he said the real concern is that journalists are being arrested and that freedom of expression and freedom of assembly are being violated.

“Those kinds of things are not necessarily things we should interfere with. They are personal matters. We are not interested in that. Concern is about the arrest of journalists. Concern is that freedom of expression and freedom of assembly is being violated. We are not worried about anything else,” former President Mohamed Nasheed said.

MDP back in Sri Lanka again ???????????? pic.twitter.com/vKguKRdeaT

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Nasheed said freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful political activity should not be treated as a joke in the Maldives.

He explained that criticism of a sitting government is directly linked to the welfare of the people, and that public benefit increases when people are able to criticise and speak out about government actions.

“Inability to criticise makes the bad project at the wrong time, in the wrong place, at the wrong price, with the wrong person. This is how our money can get wasted,” former President Mohamed Nasheed said.

In context, two journalists were jailed Tuesday for allegedly violating an order issued by the Criminal Court in connection with the ongoing charges against the heads of Adhadhu.

The court sentenced Shahuzan to 15 days for questioning the President relative to the Aisha documentary produced by the outlet during a press conference at the President’s Office on Monday, and sentenced Leevan to 10 days for reporting about it on Tuesday.