Black Friday (2004)

[2] As the protest continued to grow, people demanded the resignation of president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who had been in power since 1978.

Pursuant to the powers vested in him by Section 144 of the Constitution — and for only the second time in Maldives history — president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom declared a State of Emergency in Malé and the nearby islands a few minutes after the crackdown.

When police summoned Mr. Mohamed Yusuf, a few reform activists decided to gather near Republican Square to inquire about Yoosuf's detention.

What started as a vigil at Republican Square in Malé at dusk on August 12, 2004, turned into a mass gathering of people demanding democratic reform.

They also called for the release of Naushad Waheed, Ahmed Didi, Mohamed Zaki and Fathimath Nisreen; all of whom were, according to the Opposition movement, detained without a fair trial.

When they failed, they asked the pro-reformist MP Ibrahim Ismail (Ibra) to address the crowd in front of the NSS building.

Senior MDP activist Muad Mohamed Zaki who was in the front row of the protest blocking the NSS building tried to discourage protestors from moving their position.

[citation needed] At around 0700 hrs Maafushi Prison was broken, thinking the government was overthrown, as the detainees got the news of the unusual protest in Malé.

Since international media was reporting the event, NSS needed a valid and justifiable reason to use force to disperse the crowd.

This alerted the British Parliament and European Union officials that Muad was communicating closely with while he staying in the UK representing Maldivian Democratic Party and working to free Sandhaanu political prisoners in Maldives.

President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom declared a State of Emergency in Malé and nearby islands, pursuant to powers vested in him by Section 144 of the Constitution, for the second time in the Maldives history.

Dhiraagu and Focus Infocom was forced to shut down Internet and SMS services to prevent the images, video and news of the event leaking to international media.

At 2000hrs news, after declaring the State of Emergency, TVM downplayed the size of the protesters, and called the gathering "illegal in every possible sense".

[2] On August 12, 2005, to mark the first anniversary of the Black Friday, members of the Maldivian Democratic Party and pro-reformists started gathering near Republican Square.

Despite heavy police and NSS presence, at around 4:30pm local time Mohamed Nasheed - Chairman of the MDP - along with other several leading members of the party, decided to gather at Republican square.

"[citation needed] At one time Nasheed asked the police to join them, since he is not inciting violence but peacefully sitting there.