DAY OF THE IMPRISONED WRITER
November 15, 2004
Four people are held in the Maldives. Three were sentenced to life imprisonment, and the fourth a ten year prison term. All were convicted for having used the Internet as a means of disseminating their views, a direct violation of their right to freedom of expression.
Businessmen Ahmed Ibrahim Didi, Mohamed Zaki, and Ibrahim Moosa Luthfee were first arrested with their secretary Fathimath Nisreen in January and February 2002 for founding, editing and writing the Dhivehi-language internet publication Sandhaanu. Sandhaanu had a wide circulation among Maldivans and was known for its criticism of the government and calls for political reform, though is not known to have ever advocated violence. On 29 May 2002 they were charged with ‘defamation’ and ‘committing acts hostile to the government’. On 7 July 2002, Didi, Luthfee and Zaki were sentenced to life imprisonment, and Nisreen to ten years’ imprisonment, at a trial which reportedly did not comply with international standards of fairness. Nisreen was only twenty-one years of age at the time. The authorities have denied their request for an appeal.
In May 2003 Luthfee managed to escape and now lives in exile. In December 2003 Didi and Zaki’s sentences were reportedly reduced to fifteen years imprisonment, and Nisreen’s sentence reduced to five years. On 13 December 2003 Nisreen was reportedly released from prison but she was banished to Feeali Island. Nisreen was allowed to return to Malé in the summer of 2004 for medical treatment. She was being held under house arrest until 13 August, when she was taken to Dhoonidhoo prison. She was freed on 24 October 2004 but has been transferred back to Feeail Island to resume her five-year banishment sentence.
Didi and Zaki were held at Maafushi prison until early 2004, when they too were granted medical leave. Didi was reportedly hospitalised for a serious heart complaint on 10 February 2004 and doctors are said to have recommended his transfer to a hospital abroad for further treatment not available in the Maldives. The government has refused the transfer. Zaki reportedly suffers from a bladder condition which deteriorated in early 2004 and he was transferred to hospital in Malé at his own cost in February 2004. The hospital does not have the necessary equipment to treat him and his condition has not improved. It is believed that military personnel re-arrested Didi on the afternoon of 13 August 2000. He was detained in solitary confinement in Dhoonidhoo prison, where he was reportedly subjected to beatings, and was transferred to a Malé hospital for several days but is now said to be back in prison. Zaki, who had been too ill to attend the Malé rallies, was arrested three days later on 16 August, and held in Maafushi prison for one month before being transferred to hospital. He was placed under house arrest on 6 October 2004.
International PEN calls for the immediate and unconditional release of internet writers Ahmed Ibrahim Didi, Mohamed Zaki and Fathimath Nisreen. PEN is seriously concerned for the health and safety of all three, who are all reported to be in urgent need of medical treatment , held in poor conditions and to be at risk of ill-treatment. It seeks immediate assurances that they are being treated humanely and granted access to all necessary medical care.
For a poem by Naushad Waheed, an artist himself imprisoned in the Maldives,
click Poem by Naushad Waheed.
Photos above are of Fathimath Nisreen and Mohamed Zaki, courtesy of International PEN.