Malé, Maldives – Foreign Ministry of Maldives has revealed that the security of Indian High Commission in Maldives and the Chinese Embassy in Maldives has been tightened following threats on social media.
According to the statement by Foreign Ministry, people had called out to blast the Indian High Commission in Maldives and to protest in front of Chinese Embassy due to which both missions had requested the Foreign Ministry to tighten the security levels of the buildings and their staffs.
Foreign Ministry also accused local online media ‘Dhiyares’ for igniting the social media feud through posts about diplomatic missions and diplomats.
Ministry’s statement also stated that they have been noticing frequent posts from local medias attacking foreign diplomats, envoys and members of the foreign missions.
This comes while Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) had accused co-founder and writer of Dhiyares, Ahmed Azaan of dragging the Maldives diplomatic partners and allies into their own political vendettas following a report by ‘Dhiyares’ about Deputy High Commissioner Rohith Rathish.
The ministry stated that such posts may affect the long lasting friendships between Maldives and other countries and that it may incite hatred within the citizens against these countries. The ministry noted that such posts also become an obstacle for the government in ensuring the security and safety of the foreign diplomats.
The Ministry requested local medias, to keep their actions such that it does not violate international agreements such as the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
The parliament has also requested Maldives Media Council to take action against to take against medias spreading such malicious information again foreign diplomats.
Following this the opposition coalition also released a statement which read that media is the fourth pillar of democracy and that no one should attempt to hinder the freedom of press in Maldives and attempt to intimidate specific journalists working in Maldives.
Their statement also called out the responsible bodies for media to ensure safety and security to the journalists in Maldives and not to allow other countries and foreign parties to intimidate journalists through the government of Maldives for reporting specific topics.
In the statement released earlier today by MDP, the ruling party accused Dhiyares and its co-founder to be continuously barraging anti- India vitriol and that it appeared to be a well- funded, well- orchestrated and pre- meditated political campaign with the express purpose of whipping up hatred against the Maldives’ closest ally, India.
