Maldives Media Council (MMC) President Ahmed Musthafa has been sacked from his position at the state broadcaster Public Service Media (PSM).
PSM Deputy Managing Director Yameen Rasheed confirmed that the company has decided to take action against an employee in a responsible position.
The decision was taken by the PSM board.
Yameen said PSM would issue a statement on the matter. However, he did not deny that Musthafa's dismissal.
However, the PSM statement did not mention his dismissal.
The statement said the sudden screening of a video that did not comply with PSM's editorial policy during the Journalism Awards ceremony on Wednesday night without prior notice was a deliberate act by the MMC.
It added that a complaint has been submitted to the Parliament.
The video clip referred to in the PSM statement was regarding Adhadhu's "Skeelan" documentary which won the award in the investigative journalism category.
Musthafa, who was the news operations manager, has been working for PSM for more than 30 years. Adhadhu understands that he was dismissed over the screening of the "Skeelan" video clip during the MMC award ceremony.
The documentary was produced about President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's stepmother, Gnei Skeelan, a Sri Lankan citizen, who was blacklisted and deported from the Maldives.
The documentary featured interviews with the widow and presented evidence about her blacklisting.
Summary of the documentary:
- Skeelan and Muizzu's father Sheikh Hussain Abdul Rahman were married for 13 years
- Sheikh Hussain passed away on September 29, 2015
- Inheritance case submitted to the Family Court on October 11, 2015
- Case concluded on November 29, 2015
- Skeelan left the Maldives on January 12, 2016
- She returned on March 4, 2016 (she was blacklisted two days before that on March 2, 2016)
- Skeelan blames Muizzu
- Skeelan was blacklisted over alleged human trafficking
- No investigation conducted over the serious allegation
- No documents at the immigration department
- Skeelan says Muizzu's family cut all ties with her after she moved to Sri Lanka and blocked her on all messaging platforms
- Muizzu did not provide any assistance despite assurances of caring for her until death
