Host for the Maldivian Minivan Radio Aishath Aniya called a mosque in Malé "ugly" in a tweet. She received death threats and was questioned by police over the incident.
being a host for Minivan Radio
In January 2019, Maldivian radio host for Minivan Aishath Aniya was targeted with death threats after calling a local mosque under construction “ugly,” saying it blocked her view of the airport. A religious cleric had indirectly accused her of being laadheenee—“irreligious.” Aishath said that she began to receive the threats after this accusatory tweet
“What a beautiful mosque Masha Allah! Some laadheenee people will say the structure is ugly and its blocking the view. Let them be. We know what they really find ugly. The most loved place for Muslims are mosques. That’s for sure.” - Maldivian Sheikh Ali Zaid
Aishath accused the cleric of inciting fitna (civil strife) against her. In connection with the incident, she and the cleric were separately summoned by police for questioning.
2019 Report on International Religious Freedom: Maldives - United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
Three questioned in hate speech probe - Maldives Independent
In the Maldives, there is no freedom of religion, as all citizens must be Muslim. Blasphemers and apostates can be tried in courts of religious law and sentenced to death. Rising religious extremism has become an issue, and extrajudicial attacks and murders on secular activists—or activists accused of secular sympathies—are common. There is no separation of religion and state, as the country is explicitly Islamic in character and design.