Opposition aligned Raajje TV’s reporter Murushid Abdul Hakeem has claimed that the police used disproportionate force when he was covering Saturday night's rally.
Murushid was handcuffed near the China Embassy in the capital Male while covering the opposition rally.
In a video circulating on social media, police officers were clearly seen forcibly twisting his hand and handcuffing the reporter, who was struggling against it. In the video, he was dragged and taken away after being cuffed.
According to Murushid, he suffered minor injuries and got treatment from ADK hospital. Doctors said that he had not suffered any major injuries.
The reporter maintained that he was in the area allocated for the media by the police to cover the rally. However, some other police officers came to the area and had asked him to leave, and then detained him on the spot. He noted that he struggled against the police because he thought they were trying to take away his mic and that the police did not warn him that they were trying to restrain him.
After he was cuffed, he was taken to the Artificial Beach area and was asked to sit on the steps there. He was released soon after that.
Murushid said that when questioned why he was detained, the police denied detaining him, and said that they simply took him away from that area.
Police spokesperson Ahmed Shifan also made similar comments, saying that Murushid was not arrested and that he was simply taken away from that area. He added that they are investigating the allegations of violence against the reporter by police.
Hussain Hassan, a reporter from the same television station, was brutally arrested by the police. Hussain stated that he had fainted from the violence he was subjected to by the police.
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