Maldives Journalists' Association (MJA) has released a statement congratulating Haveeru, Maldives' most archive-rich newspaper, on the Supreme Court's ruling in its favour, effectively granting it the legal go ahead to resume operations.
Supreme Court ruled on March 3 to uphold Civil Court's 2014 verdict that Abdulla Farooq Hassan and Ibrahim Rasheed Moosa do not hold any shares in 'Haveeru' News and Loamaafaanu Print, and that no part of its profits need to be given to these two individuals, and revoked the earlier High Court ruling to the contrary in the case.
In its statement, MJA said that the closure of Haveeru following a Civil Court order at the time was a major injustice against a large number of experienced and skilled journalists and other media professionals across the country.
MJA described the shutdown of Haveeru, a trusted and long serving news source that multitudes of people depend on for reliable information, as a dark stain on the history of press freedom in the Maldives.
"It is, in essence, a major obstacle that was presented against the entire field of journalism and the citizen's right to information. Due to this, the newspaper that is considered a record of many decades of Maldives' history was shut down, and as a result, its archives and information lost," the statement reads.
MJA expressed hope that Haveeru would once again resume operations and start anew, along with opening access to its old archives. It also appealed for the archives to be made available to the public for the sake of preservation of historical records.
"This union believes that this is in the best interests of journalists, media, journalism and, as a while, the general citizens," they said.
MJA asserted that any efforts by a State institution to shut down a news outlet or media is in contravention of the protection of journalistic rights as guaranteed under the Constitution.
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