International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have called for the immediate release of Adhadhu News journalists Mohamed Shahzan and Leevan Ali Naseer, who were sentenced to prison for contempt of court.

Shahzan was jailed after questioning a court order at a press conference at the President’s Office, following a nationwide gag order linked to a video documentary published by Adhadhu. Leevan was imprisoned after writing about the court order.

Both organizations said the journalists should be released immediately and called for an end to legal action against the newsroom.

Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) has also urged their release, condemning what it described as violations of due process during their contempt hearings.

According to MJA, the journalists were given only two hours to secure legal representation, despite requests for more time to obtain legal counsel. It said both cases proceeded without lawyers, raising concerns over fairness and access to legal defense.

“This raises serious questions about the fairness of the trials,” the association said, adding that efforts to silence the press must be resisted.

MJA has called on authorities to release both journalists unconditionally.

The previous order issued by the Criminal Court explicitly instructed that the video documentary published by "Adhadhu" news must not be circulated within the community and that no content within the documentary should be discussed, either directly or indirectly.

That order was issued following a request from the state after Qazf (false accusation of unchastity) charges were filed against Adhadhu CEO Hussain Fiyaz Moosa and editor Hassan Mohamed. The trial for that case is scheduled to begin today.