Monday Times banned and Editor Charged in Maldives :: Dhivehi Observer

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Monday Times banned and editor charged

Maldives Culture special report, November 2002

mohamed bushry editor monday times
Mohamed Bushry
Monday Times editor

Monday Times, a Maldives English language print magazine also available on the Internet, has been banned and the editor Mohamed Bushry is facing unspecified court charges in Malé, according to informed sources.

Mohamed Bushry is the son-in-law of Minister Zahir Hussein, a close friend and confidante of President Maumoon Gayyoom. Minister Zahir is also the owner/editor of Haveeru, the most influential Dhivehi language newspaper in Maldives. Monday Times was founded by Leena Mohamed Zahir Hussein, Mohamed Bushry's wife and Minister Zahir's daughter.

Monday Times has been a lively publication which serves 'short eats' of Maldivian life for English readers. It has functioned under one of the world's most arbitrary and fickle censorship systems, and occasionally its themes and writers have pushed the narrow bounds of official tolerance.

Monday Times has raised important questions about government development policy, the fishing industry, tourism, ethnic problems, and legal rights. Within the constraints caused by carping official scrutiny and journalists' self-censorship, the magazine has tried to answer these questions — not always successfully, but at least the attempt was being made.

One critic of the magazine claims it came into existence 'so the unsuspecting majority of Maldivians could consume gossip in an organised way' and its publication was 'a move by government-backed goons to control the local print media by displacing all decent and serious journalism'.

Others see Monday Times as a natural extension of Minister Zahir Hussein's Haveeru news bureau, which dominates the Dhivehi print media with the widely-read daily Haveeru and relatively high-standard fortnightly magazine Huvaas.

Despite his present difficulties, Mohamed Bushry is not expected to experience the more feral aspects of the Maldivian legal system. His family ties should ensure decent treatment and lenient sentencing.