STO sacks employee over violation of court gag order

State Trading Organisation has dismissed an employee after concluding that he violated a ‘gag order’ issued by the Criminal Court relating to a documentary published by Adhadhu involving allegations against President Mohamed Muizzu.

The order was issued by Criminal Court Judge Muzammil Naseer during defamation proceedings filed against two senior Adhadhu officials.

The court order prohibited both direct and indirect discussion of the documentary.

The dismissed employee was identified as Ali Shafiu of S. Hithadhoo.

According to a dismissal letter sent by STO last Monday, the company conducted an internal administrative investigation after receiving a disciplinary complaint against him.

The company stated that the investigation concluded that Ali Shafiu had breached both the court order and STO’s code of conduct.

According to the findings outlined in the letter:

The letter did not disclose the exact wording of the post.

STO stated that the conduct amounted to a violation of employee conduct rules and confirmed that Ali Shafiu’s employment was terminated effective from Tuesday.

The company cited Article 23 of the Employment Act in support of the dismissal.

Under Article 23, employers may dismiss employees without notice in circumstances including unsatisfactory conduct, situations where continued employment may harm the workplace, or cases involving dishonesty or fraud.

However, the dismissal letter did not specify which clause of Article 23 was used in the decision.

STO has not issued a public statement on the matter.

The development comes after two Adhadhu journalists were sentenced to prison last week for allegedly violating the same Criminal Court order.