Adhadhu CEO Hussain Fiyaz Moosa and Managing Editor Hassan Mohamed exercised their right to remain silent during police questioning over the Aisha documentary, invoking the constitutional protection against compelling journalists to reveal sources. Speaking outside the police investigation building after his summons, Fiyaz vowed to protect Adhadhu's sources "even if it means spending a lifetime in jail," and urged whistleblowers to keep coming forward. Police have presented five criminal allegations against both Fiyaz and Hassan: two counts of vicarious liability and complicity (Section 30 and 30(a)(2) of the Penal Code), defamation or qazf (Section 612), solicitation to commit an offence (Section 81) and conspiracy to commit an offence (Section 82). Following the unprecedented raid of Adhadhu's office on Monday night, the Criminal Court ordered the passports of both Fiyaz and Hassan withheld based on an intelligence report.
International and local press freedom organisations widely condemned the raid on Adhadhu's office and the travel bans on its editors. The International Federation of Journalists and its affiliate the Maldives Journalists Association said the government was using police "to bypass due process and misuse the law to criminalise independent media reporting," noting that the qazf warrant amounted to using a criminalised speech provision to circumvent civil media regulation. Reporters Without Borders called the raid "criminalising journalism as retaliation" and demanded it stop immediately. Transparency Maldives raised procedural concerns, saying police seized laptops and hard drives despite Adhadhu's legal team informing officers the warrant did not authorise seizure. TM noted that no recognised media industry body was present during the search as required for journalistic data under the Criminal Procedure Code. The anti-corruption NGO called for the withdrawal of charges, the return of seized equipment, the lifting of travel restrictions, and a review of the legality of the raid. The Committee to Protect Journalists also urged the government to stop intimidating journalists and return the seized equipment.
The Maldives Journalists Association demanded the Media and Broadcasting Commission disclose who, if anyone, it has appointed to represent the journalism profession when police search journalists' computer data. Section 74.4(e) of the Criminal Procedure Act requires that data belonging to members of regulated professions – journalism, law and medicine – can only be searched in the presence of a representative designated by the relevant regulatory body. The police procedural regulation requires those bodies to provide the representative's contact details to police within three months of the regulation coming into effect. The MJA asked the commission to confirm both the appointee's identity and the date the information was shared with police. In a separate statement on the Adhadhu raid, the commission said it had no authority to intervene in police investigations and would limit itself to reviewing media content within its jurisdiction, while affirming a commitment to constitutional protections including the right of journalists not to disclose sources.
The Supreme Court upheld the constitutional anti-defection amendments on unseating MPs if expelled from their political party, in a 6-1 ruling with Justice Aisha Shujune Mohamed the sole dissenter. Writing for the five-judge majority, Chief Justice Abdul Ghani Mohamed said the amendment – pushed through the PNC supermajority parliament in a single day in November 2024 – was made within the procedural limits set out in the constitution and that the new grounds for disqualification did not conflict with or affect other provisions. Justice Dr Mohamed Ibrahim concurred separately, holding that any amendment not contrary to a source of Islam is part of the constitution. In her dissent, Shujune said the amendment let political parties insert themselves as a third party into the constitutional relationship between voters and their elected representatives, deterring MPs from speaking out in the national interest for fear of losing their seats. Adding new disqualification grounds mid-term violated the social contract between citizens and their representatives and could not bind a sitting parliament, she said. The case was brought by former MP Ali Hussain. The ruling came after the bench was reconstituted: three justices were suspended ahead of an interim order hearing in February 2025, with Husnu Suood resigning in protest, Mahaz Ali Zahir and Dr Azmiralda Zahir removed by parliament, and former Chief Justice Ahmed Muthasim Adnan retiring.
Two lagoons near Malé are being surveyed for the first phase of the planned national fuel reserve, Finance Minister Mousa Zameer said at the cabinet crisis committee's weekly briefing on the Middle East war. STO is leading site identification with field surveys to begin next week, and a full plan covering design, financing and feasibility will be submitted to President Muizzu within two weeks. The reserve is to be built in three phases. The first storage facility is to be located near Malé in an area accessible to large vessels year-round. Muizzu first announced the three-location reserve on March 23 as a long-term hedge against the Iran-US-Israel war's disruption of global fuel supply. Zameer reiterated that fuel imports were continuing without difficulty, with STO and some private companies resuming shipments. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that China has approved 500,000 metric tons of fuel exports for May – nearly double the April figure but less than half last year's monthly average – with the Maldives among eight Asia-Pacific recipient countries designated by Beijing. China imposed an immediate export ban in March to safeguard its domestic market after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Beijing is now designating both volumes and destinations rather than reverting to open licensing.
Disqualified former MP Mohamed Sinan withdrew from the Hithadhoo North by-election, days after winning the PNC primary, and endorsed runner-up Ahmed Saeed 'Soda' – a councillor for Hithadhoo Mooledhe constituency – as the candidate best placed to defend the seat for the party. Sinan, who beat Saeed 226 votes to 187 in the primary, said three days of consultations with constituents had convinced him that fielding "a new face" was the surest way to defeat MDP candidate Abdulla Sodiq 'Sobe,' the former Addu mayor. "I don't want to give up any chance for the PNC to win this seat by defeating Sobe. I will stand with Saeed," he said. He had taken the PNC ticket after the Supreme Court stripped him of his seat for failing to repay a court-ordered debt. The withdrawal came after the Elections Commission extended the candidacy application deadline, a move that appears to have given the ruling party room to resolve the situation.
Parliament debated a government-sponsored bill that would impose fines of up to MVR 500,000 (US$ 32,435) for catching protected fish species and up to MVR 1 million for exporting them or their parts. Under the existing Fisheries Act, catching protected species is not an explicit offence. It is one of several activities criminalised through regulation under Article 77, which caps the penalty at MVR 5,000 and leaves enforcement to the fisheries ministry's discretion. The amendment would write the offence directly into primary legislation. The bill also creates a new offence of damaging fishing resources, punishable by a fine of up to MVR 200,000.
Parliament approved President Muizzu's reshuffled cabinet, shrunk from 20 to 14 ministries and the Attorney General's office. PNC voted unanimously in favour of all 14 ministers. The opposition MDP's dozen MPs split their votes. All 12 voted against Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed and Heritage Minister Heena Waleed. Five voted against Housing Minister Dr Abdulla Muththalib and Climate Minister Ali Shareef. Only PNC parliamentary group leader Ibrahim Falah used the debate slot on the committee report. Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim then closed the debate. Notable portfolio mergers include finance and public enterprises (Moosa Zameer); homeland security, labour and technology (Ali Ihusan); health, family and welfare (Geela Ali); and infrastructure, urban and housing development (Muththalib). The reshuffle followed the sudden resignation of 10 of the 20 sitting ministers, which the President's Office at the time framed as creating room for changes "in line with public sentiment."
The housing ministry added a third category to the Binveriya scheme, allowing applicants from the previous government's land scheme to swap their plots for flats. Under the new category, single-applicant recipients can apply to exchange their plot for a flat, while joint applicants can apply to exchange their shared plot for individual plots and flats. Applications open on May 10 and close at the end of the month. The new category sits alongside two existing ones: applicants who received plots through joint applications under the previous scheme, and those who were unable to apply to Binveriya because they had received a flat under an earlier government housing scheme. The wider programme is offering 7,900 flats and 15,000 plots of 1,250 square feet, the latter to be issued from Rasmalé. The application deadline for the broader scheme has been extended to May 31.
Dengue cases in the first four months of 2026 are nearly six times higher than the same period last year, the Health Protection Agency reported. The HPA logged 2,183 cases between January and April, compared to 374 in the same period last year, a more than five-fold jump. The steepest rise came in January (679 cases this year against 75 last year). March and April have continued to track well above last year's levels with 600 and 476 cases respectively. Common cold cases are also high, with 21,687 reported between March 22 and April 18, mostly from the atolls. Influenza positivity has crept up: 18 of 89 people tested in April returned positive, up from five of 105 in March.
MP Asma Rasheed was reinstated to the social affairs committee, five months after she was removed from the position in a fallout with President Muizzu. Asma – PNC MP for Central Maafannu – chaired Wednesday's committee meeting, conducted with most microphones switched off so that nothing was audible on the YouTube livestream. She was removed in November 2025 after sending constituents a message inviting them to share questions ahead of a presidential visit to her constituency, which the President's Office took as a slight; she apologised at the time on its instructions. Mohamed Mustafa, the PNC MP for Maafannu West who replaced her as chair, returns to his earlier position as deputy chair. The reinstatement comes weeks after the Asma audio leak cost two of her family members their government posts: her son Mohamed Hussain Shareef 'Mundhu,' then ambassador to the UAE, and her sister Dr Salma Rasheed, the permanent representative to the UN. Mundhu has since been appointed chief government spokesperson. The letter dismissing Salma was later rescinded.
A fire in the air conditioning unit of Feydhoo School library in Addu caused major damage, destroying books, cabinets, doors and the AC itself. The MNDF said it received the alert at 8:20am and put out the fire by 9am. No injuries were reported. Classes had just begun when the fire broke out and all students were evacuated.
A man who fell from a coconut palm in Kulhudhuffushi died after two weeks on a ventilator. Hussain Shifaz, 36, of Naikuranfaru in Haa Dhaalu Atoll, was cleaning palms on the eastern side of Kulhudhuffushi's Hirafusdhandu on April 16 when he fell from a height of about 60 feet. He was transferred to IGMH for further treatment four days ago and was buried at Aasahara cemetery in Malé after Asr prayers.
Maldivians holding ordinary passports can travel to Azerbaijan visa-free for up to 90 days from today, after a mutual visa exemption agreement signed in September 2025 entered into force. The agreement extends visa-free access already in place for diplomatic and official passport holders since June 2025. Travellers planning to stay longer than 90 days, work, study or conduct business in Azerbaijan still require a visa. The foreign ministry described the agreement as a step toward the government's goal of visa-free travel for all Maldivians.
