Court rejects First Lady's request for live hearings

Civil Court has decided to hold closed hearings in the defamation case submitted against opposition Maldivian Democratic Party activist Mariyam Zubair (Mandhy) by First Lady Sajidha Mohamed.

The Court came to this decision despite First Lady Sajidha requesting that the hearings be broadcast live.

The First Lady filed the case against Zubair regarding comments made by her about the First Lady and President Dr Mohamed Muizzu's son during a party rally.

With trials having started, two procedural submissions were made by the First Lady's legal representatives. This included a request to hold the trials against Zubair, MDP Chairperson Fayyaz Ismail, and the party itself together, and to broadcast the hearings live on TV.

This request was made in order to ensure that court proceedings are carried out transparently, they said.

However, Civil Court Judge Faisal Adam rejected this request, instead ruling that the hearings will be held closed. The court's ruling said that this decision was made as this case concerns the rights of a child, and to protect the child from any psychological effects that broadcasting the hearings may lead to in the future.

The First Family's lawyer Azima Shakoor's law firm said in a previous statement that the comments made regarding President Muizzu's son, Umair Mohamed Muizzu, has affected Umair's studies and pose a risk to his self, life and future.

They have previously said that they have pressed charges against MDP as the comments were made in a demonstration held by that party, and the party made no efforts to intervene. Charges are being pressed against Fayyaz for encouraging the comments instead of condemning them in a post on social media X.

While the First Family has raised the matter to court, MDP has said that they, at no time, named any child, and it was the family and their lawyer who named the child.