Defence Ministry appeals ICOM ruling, wishes to withhold why MNDF officers can't operate Dorniers

Ministry of Defence has appealed a decision by the Information Commissioner (ICOM)'s Office in a bid against revealing why Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) officers trained to operate Dorniers are not being given the opportunity to fly the aircrafts.

Initially, the Dornier flights, which were gifted to the Maldives by India, were operated by Indian military pilots. However, when Maldives' current government assumed power, the foreign military personnel were swapped over with Indian civilian pilots despite having trained MNDF officers.

These local pilots include MNDF's First Lieutenant Ibrahim Shareef and Lieutenant Ahmed Ali, who were both trained for the Dorniers in 2021. An additional five pilots were trained to fly military crafts, and four completed Dornier conversion courses, MNDF had revealed previously.

Under Maldives' Right to Information Act (RTI Act), local media outlet Mihaaru's journalist Nazim Hassan requested the Defence Ministry to clarify whether they operated the Dorniers at any point. He also sought details on why local pilots are not active in Dornier operations despite being trained, and whether any of the trained pilots left MNDF, as well as why they left, if any.

After four hearings on the case, ICOM ruled on September 9 that the Ministry would have to provide the information within five days.

In response, the Defence Ministry cited Article 29 of the RTI Act, which grants the Ministry the right to withhold information related to national security, and appealed the ruling at the High Court last Tuesday.

However, if the information does not relate to national security, the Article will not be applicable.