New Delhi: The lawyers of Maldivian journalist Rae Munavvar have expressed “grave concern” over the statement of the Maldives presidential spokesperson in response to her article published in The Wire.Munavvar, editor the Maldivian English language newspaper, The Edition, had written about her complaint of sexual harassment against a senior aide of Maldives President Ibrahim Solih. The President’s communications director Hassan Ismail has completely denied all allegations in a response appended to the article. In her article published by The Wire on Wednesday, Munavvar had said that there had been inordinate delay in taking any action on her complaint.The Maldives presidential spokesperson, Ibrahim Hood sent The Wire a detailed statement in which he asserted that the government “treats allegations of sexual harassment and abuse” with seriousness.Objecting to the contents of statement, Munavvar’s legal team said that the “failure of the President’s Office to take any administrative action against its own Secretary of Communications, citing action pending affirmative investigation, highlights both discrimination and bias in countering sexual harassment”.Hood had pointed out that the government had taken the “unprecedented step” of firing a cabinet minister in response to serious allegations against him. “Similar actions have been taken against other senior officials against whom allegations have been lodged. The Government continues to take appropriate action in this regard,” he stated.Rae Munavvar pictured at the Edition launching. Photo: Nishaan Ali from Mihaaru NewsThe statement signed by lawyers Shafeea Riza and Noorbaan Fahmy, however, pointed out that the claims made by the President’s office lies in “direct contrast with the positions the administration has recently taken with regards to sexual harassment cases, involving persons appointed to ministerial and political positions”.While the alleged incident had taken place in February 2019, Munavvar filed a formal complaint with the President’s office in January this year. Thereafter, she also registered a police complaint in March.Hassan Ismail. Photo: https://presidency.gov.mv/Government/Officials/17They pointed out that Munavvar has only received information regarding the progress made in her case by the President’s office and Maldives Police Service only through various media platforms. “With reference to the above, we note that Ms Munavvar was only made aware of an inquiry that was conducted by President’s Office via the statement given by Spokesperson Hoodh to The Wire, India”.Munavvar’s lawyers stated that there had been repeated disregard by state authorities towards the protection of her rights to natural justice, including the right to be informed of the progress of her case.“Noting the prescribed mechanism under the Prevention of Sexual Abuse and Harassment Act of 2014, Ms Munavvar was not given the opportunity to present her case before the lawful committee, nor was she informed of the action that was taken following said inquiry. Citing these reasons, on 29 January 2020, Ms Munavvar had again requested in writing to President’s Office, to inform her of the details of the process undertaken and the subsequent action taken,” said the statement.They added that Munavvar had still not received any information to her request.Hood had noted that the President’s chief of staff Ali Zahir had met with Munavvar five days before she filed her formal complaint in January. He stated that Munavvar had apparently “conveyed to our Chief of Staff that the main redress she is seeking is for the President’s Office to guarantee that Mr. Ismail does not repeat his alleged behavior”.“At this point she did not seek any further penalty, in acknowledgement of the difficulty of ascertaining fact when presented with two incongruent versions of a verbal exchange,” said the statement from the Presidential spokesperson.Ismail was “admonished” and warned that if any other allegations surfaced, “he will be subject to more serious actions”.“The President’s Office subsequently informed Ms. Munavvar on 26 January 2929 (three days after she formally filed her complaint) that actions commensurate with the particular nature of this case have been taken against Mr. Ismail, following the conclusion of an internal inquiry”.According to Munavvar, the letter dated January 26 stated, “The aforementioned issue has been investigated and actions have been taken. We have identified that no information was disclosed from this office. The president has taken note of the matter.”Munavvar’s lawyers asserted that for the Presidential Spokesperson to allege on her behalf as “to her standing of the redress she seeks through her complaint, merely with reference to a meeting that took place outside of both decorum and the law, is an act of deliberate injustice that adversely impacts her constitutional right to fair administrative action”.“Reminding the Government of the prevalence and seriousness of sexual harassment and abuse in the Maldives, we strongly urge the Government to respect the rule of law, to restore public confidence in systems that are established to protect its citizens and to uphold equality in combatting such offences,” they said.The full text of Munavvar’s lawyers’ statement has been appended to the original article as well.