The activist paper was closed after funders, who are connected to the Maldivian Democratic Party which has now come into power, withdrew their support.
But Deputy Editor Nazim Sattar, also brother of newly elected President Nasheed, says he is “very upset” over shutting down the paper, saying he wanted to continue to help keep the government to account.
Journalists are being offered one month pay and other benefits, but say they are in a weak position due to the short notice.
“Activist Paper”
Minivan - meaning “independent” in local Dhivehi script - Daily, which began more than three years ago, published its last issue on Tuesday with photos of all those who had worked for the paper.
Nazim said they had “reached our objective of creating a space for democratic media to exist in the country without facing intimidation”.
But he said he “upset” about the decision to close the paper, saying he wished to continue but said it would be difficult to run a paper because of his family ties with the new government.
“The funding has been cut off. I am very upset about it. I cannot be impartial and have an active role without a conflict of interest with my brother as president,” he said.
“Minivan was an activist paper. The paper has accomplished so much. It is a paper of the people. The paper demonstrated the reality on the streets, police brutality on the streets and their use of abusive language because we printed that,” he said.
Nazim says that the funders, such as Mr. Ahmed Ismail Manik (Sikka), had achieved their objectives, which was “freedom from Gayoom”.
Pioneering
The paper set a precedent by pushing the barriers of press freedom at a time when journalists were regularly jailed, intimidated or subject to police brutality.
The newspaper, first published in July 2005, only a month after the MDP were allowed to register, was widely seen as being at the forefront of exposing misuses of power by the Gayoom administration.
Many journalists and photographers working for the paper have been arrested and imprisoned for speaking out against the government.
Nazim says it also introduced a new style of journalism, using quotes for Gayoom’s speeches where no other paper did, and carrying out grassroots reporting instead of “reprinting press releases” as other papers used to.
“It has created a new genre of journalism. We introduced many new words, for example the Dhivehi word for detainee means criminal but we introduced “Gaidheen” an Arabic term that is not offensive,” he said.
“No other paper has published parliamentary debate and bills as informative like we did… this is something the readership will lose,” Nazim added.
Staff Rights
Employees at the paper have said they were given only two days notice and say they are worried about now being in a poor position to find a new job.
Staff are being given a month’s salary and another year of health insurance. Nazim says they will still continue to belong to the company, just not the newspaper, adding that “they are very upset, but it is not true that we did not give them notice”.
Ibrahim Mohamed, 21, who has worked at the newspaper for more than one year, says he was worried about the 16 employees who would lose their jobs.
“Suddenly we lost all the opportunities and have to find a job and sell ourselves at the most cheapest price because everyone knows we don’t have much choice,” he said.
He added they did not receive overtime pay and other benefits in the new employment law despite being promised them.
But also he said he was “sad and disappointed” that the paper had closed.
“I am proud I have worked in this newspaper because this paper has revealed so much that the public wanted. Even I wrote these pieces,” he added.
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