Jennifer Latheef (born 1973) is a daughter of

Mohamed Latheef Mohamed Latheef (died 3 july 2022) was a Maldives politician, a former parliamentarian and a campaigner for human rights. He is a co-founder of the MDP (Maldivian Democratic Party), a political party. He was self-exiled in Sri Lanka for a number of ...

, a leading Maldivian politician and government critic. She also worked as a Maldivian

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

for a short period of time. According to an Amnesty International report released in 2003, Jennifer Latheef

is an artist and video film producer particularly focusing on the prevalence of sexual abuse in the country. She is known for holding views critical of the government and against censorship, and this is believed to be the main reason for her continued detention. She is currently detained under house arrest in Malé. In addition, it is believed that Jennifer Latheef’s continued detention may be a measure by the government to limit the activities of her father, Mohamed Latheef, a Maldivian politician currently living in exile in Sri Lanka where he is engaged in a campaign of peaceful political opposition to the Government of Maldives.

Jennifer Latheef was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment on October 18, 2005, convicted of "

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

" for joining a

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooper ...

in September 2003 against deaths in prison and political repression. Amnesty International adopted her as a Prisoner of Conscience during her time in prison and campaigned for her release. She was detained in

Maafushi Prison Maafushi Prison is a prison in Maafushi on Kaafu Atoll in the Maldives, south of the capital, Malé. It is the largest prison on the islands and has held numerous political prisoners over the years, including the former president, Mohamed Na ...

on the Kaafu Atoll, 18 miles south of the capital,

Malé Malé (, ; dv, މާލެ) is the capital and most populous city of the Maldives. With a population of 252,768 and an area of , it is also one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The city is geographically located at the southern ...

. She was reportedly not being given regular access to necessary medication. She was released on August 16, 2006. She was informed of her release from house arrest through a presidential pardon. Initially, she refused to accept the government offer of release on two grounds: firstly, that her release should have been unconditional and not through a pardon, since this would imply that she had committed a recognizably criminal offence – which she had not; and secondly, she insisted that the other four political prisoners convicted at the same trial should also be released. After consulting with friends and other

human rights defender A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing camp ...

s, Jennifer Latheef agreed to accept the offer of release from house arrest.amnesty international in asia and the pacific
Good News from Maldives! Jennifer Latheef Freed
, 26 October 2006

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Latheef, Jennifer Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by the Maldives Living people Maldivian activists Maldivian journalists Maldivian prisoners and detainees People imprisoned on charges of terrorism 1973 births 20th-century Maldivian writers 21st-century Maldivian writers

See also

References