Monday, May 07, 2012

Brutal Maldives regime hires public relations firm to whitewash image...

An international lobbying firm, based in London, has accepted a commission to boost the reputation of the regime that toppled the first democratically elected President of the Maldives.

Ruder Finn has been condemned for taking the contract – thought to be worth £300,000 – to boost the image of the Maldives in the UK and America.

Mohamed Nasheed, the elected former leader, was made to quit in a military and police coup in February. He was replaced by Mohammed Waheed Hassan – who, it is claimed, is backed by the ex-dictator who ran the Maldives for 30 years.

In the weeks since the change of power, Amnesty International has denounced violence by the security forces against peaceful protesters. In March at least six protesters were injured, some seriously, when police and military officers attacked around 300 MDP protesters in the capital, Malé. Amnesty said this was part of a wider pattern of attacks on supporters of the former President Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party. Full story...

Related posts:
  1. Maldives police accused of sexually harassing female detainees...
  2. Maldives' 'paradise' image tarnished by violence...
  3. 10 years jail for 1 gram of cannabis for Maldivian reggae artist...
  4. Atheist in Maldives who rejected Islam "hangs himself..."
  5. Maldives: islanders suffer the effects of brutal police repression...
  6. How Western PR agencies help to whitewash despots and dictators...
  7. Sri Lanka 'pays PR firm £3m to boost post-war image'

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