Raajje TV broadcasts The Island President

We are very excited to announce that THE ISLAND PRESIDENT will have its international television broadcast premiere in The Republic of Maldives on Friday, February 8.

Raajje TV, an independent channel that has the largest news audience in the country, will broadcast the film nationally to mark the first anniversary of the coup d'etat that ended Mohamed Nasheed's presidency, the first democratically-elected administration in the history of the Maldives.  The television channel will show the film in the Dhivehi language.

Beside the link to the anniversary of the coup, the broadcast also coincides with the ongoing trial of Mohamed Nasheed.  The coup regime has put the former president on trial on charges related to his administration's detention of a rogue judge--this is part of the same corrupt judiciary that is sentencing underage girls to be flogged after being raped, according to the recent the Agence France Press story on Huffington Post.  It is commonly understood that Mohamed Nasheed is being railroaded in a kangaroo court, facing charges intended to prevent him from from ever being able to participate in democratic elections again.

Over the last year, Raajje TV has been a thorn in the side of the current regime.  Following the coup, the channel's cable feed was cut, effectively shutting down broadcasts.  After prevailing in legal action, Raajje TV broadcasts are restored, but the government retaliates more softly now, shutting its reporters out of all official press conferences and newsworthy government events.  Despite this, Raajje TV now attracts the largest audience for news in the island country.