Officials of the Maldives Media Council (MMC) have met with the journalists who were arrested while covering an opposition rally on Wednesday night.

The meeting was held at the Council office on Thursday afternoon.

A member of the Council said that the purpose of the meeting was to gather details of the events that took place during and after their arrests, and to listen to their concerns.

These concerns are to be taken to the relevant authorities.

Seven journalists, including three from RaajjeTV, were arrested near the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) headquarters around 11 pm on Wednesday, while covering an opposition gathering.

While all seven were released later in the night, disturbing video footage- which have been leaked online- show that officers had manhandled them during the arrest.

Shortly after the arrests, officials from MMC met with police officials to find out details of the arrests.

International Federation for Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the actions of the arresting officers, calling of the Government of Maldives 'to order the police to respect journalists'.