Maldives police raided the Adhadhu Online newsroom and seized laptops and storage devices after the outlet published a documentary alleging President Mohamed Muizzu had an affair. Authorities said the action responded to criminal allegations of "qazf" — the false accusation of adultery — and imposed travel bans that prevented several editors from leaving the country.

Police action and the charges Police executed a search at Adhadhu Online’s offices in Malé and removed multiple computers and storage devices under a warrant citing criminal allegations of qazf, the false accusation of adultery or unlawful sexual intercourse. Under Maldivian law, qazf is a criminal offence that can carry prison time and may include corporal punishment. Authorities also imposed travel bans on editors at the outlet, preventing several staffers from leaving the country. The police operation lasted about four hours, according to the outlet’s chief executive. Ali Ihusaan, the minister responsible for homeland security, posted on X that police were “right to investigate and raid the news outlet over false [adultery] allegations against the President,” saying press freedom “doesn't mean a license to destroy reputations with lies.” The documentary and its timing The film at the center of the dispute, Aisha, was uploaded to the outlet’s social accounts on March 28. It included an anonymized interview with a woman who said she was a 22-year-old single mother and had worked as an administrator in the President’s Office; she claimed a relationship with President Mohamed Muizzu took place last year. The documentary was released days before a constitutional referendum on April 4 in which 69 percent of voters rejected a government proposal to align presidential and parliamentary election cycles. Critics read the referendum result as a political setback for President Muizzu and his allies; opponents had warned the proposed changes would weaken checks and balances on the executive. After the documentary appeared online, President Muizzu called on “relevant authorities to press charges against all parties who spread such false information,” and police followed with the search and seizures days later. Legal changes and media regulation Concerns over the raid are tied to legal changes enacted last year. In September 2025 the government passed a media law that created a regulator with broad powers to fine, suspend or shut down outlets. Critics said the commission was stacked with government loyalists and warned the new framework would make it easier for authorities to pressure independent media. Adhadhu Online is aligned with the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party. The outlet’s chief executive, Hussain Fiyaz Moosa, criticized the police operation and the travel bans, saying the raid was carried out “by the police, with the influence of the government, on the government's order, to directly stop our work.” Moosa said police seized journalists’ laptops and condemned the action as an attack on press freedom. Political stakes and international perception The raid sharpens tensions between the government and critics who say Muizzu’s administration has grown intolerant of dissent. The use of criminal law against journalists, combined with the regulator’s powers, has prompted fresh scrutiny from rights groups and foreign governments that monitor democratic backsliding. Rights groups and foreign governments say the raid, coming after the referendum defeat, raises concerns about democratic backsliding and the shrinking space for independent media.

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"This is being done by the police, with the influence of the government, on the government's order, to directly stop our work," said Hussain Fiyaz Moosa, CEO of Adhadhu.

This article was created with AI assistance.