The former office Maldives’ oldest newspaper Haveeru.
This is a translation of the statement by Mohamed Zahir Hussain over the ownership dispute of Haveeru
This is my statement on the legal case concerning Haveeru newspaper’s ownershipFounding of Haveeru
The daily newspaper “Haveeru” was registered on December 27, 1978. Located in Henveiru ward Neelvilla house, it was first published on January 1, 1979. Haveeru was initially printed by Novelty. However, as responsibility for its printing eventually fell upon us, Neelvilla house was mortgaged to take loans for Haveeru’s continued production. No other entity had invested in or held shares of Haveeru during these trying stages. Hence, Haveeru has not had any shareholders of its ownership whatsoever. The verification of ownership concerning any establishment lies within the state register. As such, the register clearly indicates that Haveeru newspaper has no shareholders.
Ownership of Haveeru
The three plaintiffs claiming ownership of Haveeru were three founders of a company, Haveeru News Agency. The defendant of this legal case pertaining to that agency is myself. I am not a part of that agency, which was registered under the names of the three plaintiffs. As a party unregistered with the agency named in the court case, the verdict reached cannot pertain to myself.
Moreover, a claim filed by shareholders of that agency to demand ownership of Haveeru, in which none of the plaintiffs had ever invested in or held shares of, cannot be held as a legitimate claim.
Likewise, nothing has been done to legally amend the ownership rights of Haveeru to Haveeru News Agency, as specified under the Law 76/28 (1976-M27) concerning the delegation and sales of private establishments registered in the government.
The lack of any such transactions clearly indicate that the case filed against myself was unlawful.
Furthermore, the full rights of this newspaper had been transferred to “Haveeru Media Group Private Limited” three years prior. Thus, Haveeru news had lawfully passed out of my ownership from that moment onwards.
Agreement to establish Haveeru News Agency
I was one of the four individuals who had proposed to establish a news agency bearing the Haveeru name and subsequently signed that agreement on March 31, 1983. However, my name was not included as one of the founders when the agency was officially registered.
The Haveeru newspaper which had been registered and printed under my name since earlier and the news agency which was later founded are two completely different entities.
It is apparent that the agency was not established as a business entity under any circumstances. The agency’s charter clearly states in its sixth clause, “As this agency is not operated as a business entity, its shares will not be sold. Neither will it feature a capital nor charge initial investment contributions from the shareholders.”
Hence, the agency was established as a non-profit without any financial transactions. As such, I declare this claim to Haveeru’s shares from such an establishment after 30 years as wholly baseless, which is laid bare by the agency’s charter as well.
Additionally, the plaintiffs have failed to prove the existence of an active agency founded under the agreement of Haveeru News Agency. Likewise, the plaintiff’s attorney has admitted in court that the agency is “only in name” without any evidence to indicate its operation.
I publicize this statement to bring to light the truth behind this issue.
Mohamed Zahir Hussain