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Criminal Court to grant leniency for journalists covering trials

Criminal Court of Maldives has published its new policy on allowing media to its trials, granting leniency for journalists covering court trials.

According to the new policy, three journalists from each media outlet will be allowed to register at the court. Registered journalists will be issued a special pass, allowing them to enter the courtroom without submitting a prior application.

The previous policy of the court did not differentiate journalists from other members of the public in allowing entry into the trial. As such, journalists had to register their names 15 minutes before a trial along with everybody else.

While journalists have been granted leniency in entering the trials, the new policy has also allowed them to bring a book and a pen to the courtroom. Under the old policy, journalists were not allowed to bring anything inside the courtroom and were provided with a pen and a paper by the court.

Journalists have experienced many difficulties in covering trials of the Criminal Court in the past, facing issues such as media bans and lack of space for journalists. While the Criminal Court has amended its policies for journalists, High Court and Civil Court have always practiced more lenient policies.