(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called for the early release of three Internet writers, two of whom were jailed for life in July 2002 for “defamation” and “attempting to overthrow the government”. The organisation’s call came after Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom promised a reform of the prison system. Mohamed Zaki and Ahmad Didi, directors of […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called for the early release of three Internet writers, two of whom were jailed for life in July 2002 for “defamation” and “attempting to overthrow the government”. The organisation’s call came after Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom promised a reform of the prison system.
Mohamed Zaki and Ahmad Didi, directors of the online newsletter “Sandhaanu”, were arrested on 30 January 2002, along with Ibrahim Luthfee, who subsequently escaped from prison, and Fatimath Nisreen. RSF said their only crime was to have exercised their right to free expression. The organisation also noted that Article 25 of the Maldives Constitution guarantees every citizen “the right to express his conscience and thoughts orally or in writing or by other means.”
The Divehi-language electronic newsletter “Sandhaanu” carried articles denouncing corruption and abuse of power by the president.
RSF has been able to confirm that on 13 November 2003, Nisreen had her sentence halved to five years’ imprisonment. Nisreen was previously Luthfee’s assistant at “Sandhaanu”. She had been sentenced to 10 years in jail for “insulting the president” and “attempting to overthrow the government (. . .) by founding a newsletter named ‘Sandhaanu'”. The Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services, which falls under the Interior Ministry’s direction, also decided to banish her to Feeail island, south of the capital, Male. She spent more than one year in prison in harsh conditions on Mafushi island.
RSF has also learned that Zaki and Didi were punished in June 2003 after their colleague Luthfee escaped. They were transferred to a prison on Dhoonidhoo island and spent six months in solitary confinement, during which time they suffered harassment and ill-treatment.
Following riots in September 2003, which followed the beating death of a common-law prisoner at the central jail in Male, the authorities decided to send Zaki and Didi back to Maafushi island. They are both being held in harsh conditions, in unventilated cells, and are only allowed to receive visits from their families once a month. The prison visits are limited to one hour.
