Fareed passing, copyright infringement and due process

Condolences and tributes poured in after the sudden death of religious scholar Sheikh Ibrahim Fareed Ahmed, who passed away after falling ill at an airport in Malaysia. A prominent voice of the pro-democracy movement in the early 2000s and a founding member of the MDP’s Islamic wing, Fareed was arrested numerous times and charged with disrupting religious unity.   

Dance group Hiyala announced legal action against the state broadcaster for airing an Eid song without permission. The unauthorised performance came after TVM previously rejected attempts to seek sponsorship or support for artistic projects, according to the group from Noonu Manadhoo.

The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute expressed concern over “the lack of due process and potential executive interference” in the widely-condemned dismissal of two Supreme Court justices, warning of “wider implications for the rule of law and human rights in the country.”

The criminal court extended the remand of a 45-year-old Bangladesh man arrested last month for illegally smuggling cigarettes.

The first couple returned after completing the Hajj pilgrimage.