Unidentified attackers set fire to the main pro-opposition television network in the Maldives yesterday ahead of a crucial court ruling on whether suspended presidential elections should go ahead, officials said.
At least six men stormed the offices of the Raajje television network in a pre-dawn attack and set fire to equipment after assaulting an unarmed guard.
"All broadcast equipment, transmission equipment, computer systems fully burnt and destroyed," the station said on its Twitter feed.
Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party condemned the arson attack on Raajje television as politically motivated.
The Maldivian police force, which has been accused of heavy-handed tactics when dealing with protesters demanding elections in recent weeks, said they were treating the incident as an arson attack.