Democratic dawn

June, 1990. Following the publication of an article in the Sri Lanka daily The Island about the parliamentary elections of the Maldives that had taken place the previous year, the Maldivian writer of the article was placed under house arrest. Sangu, the magazine that he worked for, was also shut down. The article in question accused then-Defence Minister Ilyas Ibrahim of rigging the previous year's vote, when he had been running for one of the two parliamentary seats in Male. Minister Ibrahim was also the brother-in-law of then-President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Five months later, in November 1990, the reporter was taken to the Dhoonidhoo island prison, without trial, where he was held in solitary confinement in a tiny metal cage, six foot by four foot, pending an investigation. When he refused to sign a prefabricated confession, the real torture sessions began. For a week he was allowed no more than 10 to 15 minutes of sleep every night. At times his food was laced with bits of broken glass, at other times with laxatives. Once, for 12 days straight, he was chained to a chair and left out in the monsoon rain. For another 14 days, he was chained to a running electrical generator. He would later recount that it was not the food, nor the sleep deprivation, nor the days chained to various objects that really broke his spirit. Rather, it was the mere half-litre of water that he was given every day – all that was provided for drinking, washing and ablution.