MNDF seeks action against reporters who went to UTF

Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) says they will ask relevant authorities to investigate and take action against reporters from the private news outlet Dhiyares, who attempted to gain unauthorized access to the MNDF site at the Uthuru Thila Falhu (UTF).

In a statement on Sunday, the MNDF called the actions of the reporters “irresponsible.”

The MNDF also expressed concern over the spread of false accounts of the incident, when they attempted to stop the reporters.

According to the MNDF, a group of reporters from Dhiyares arrived on a speedboat, entered the military dockyard without authorization, and videoed the site, and attempted to enter the island, after the government announced plans on Saturday night, to use the remaining areas of UTF for residential use.

The MNDF said that it had recently given several media outlets that requested permission access to cover the progress of the project to build the dockyard, and condemned the attempt by Dhiyares reporters to access the island without authorization, and obstruct military officers from performing their duties.

MNDF said that access to military bases is restricted, and the military is legally obligated to stop attempts to gain unauthorized access to such sites.

It is based on this that officers ranked sergeant first class involved in maintaining security attempted to stop the reporters, said the MNDF.