The President’s Office has filed a complaint with the Maldives Media Council (MMC) against the Adhadhu newspaper over its ‘Bailakka‘ documentary, the paper has confirmed.
The administration, on 11 September, said it would seek “legal action” over the documentary and a companion online piece headlined “President gives MVR 75,000 to each PNC MP this month.”
“The case has been reported to the MMC for spreading false information,” Chief Spokesperson at the President’s Office Heena Waleed said when pressed for details on the matter.
Waleed, via an official post to social media on the day the documentary and the companion piece was released, maintained that the pieces were propaganda against President Muizzu.
“We are currently pursuing legal action through the relevant authorities against the spread of [this] fake news regarding the President, with the intention of creating strife,” she wrote.
According to Adhadhu, it reported on the distribution of stipends to Members of Parliament (MPs) each month, with details sourced from conversations with PNC members who wished to remain anonymous.
The seven-minute Dhivehi-language documentary short shows Member of Parliament (MP) for Dhuvaafaru, Mohamed Ali, along with another unnamed person, entering President Muizzu’s private residence on the evening of 8 September 2024, then exiting with a bulky black bag and transporting it, via motorcycle, to the PNC office—following which a large number of PNC MPs are seen separately entering and exiting the PNC office.
Neither MP Ali nor any of the party’s leadership were available for comment, despite repeated calls and text messages, the news outlet reported.