Dhiggaru Constituency MP Ahmed Faris Maumoon has stated that he does not support to pass the defamation bill as it is now. The Parliament has placed the bill for debate for tomorrow.
In a tweet posted today, MP Faris said he did not support passing the bill as it is now.
MP Faris has criticized the bills proposed by PPM and already been reprimanded by PPM for failing to abide by the Party's three line whip. The Ethics Committee had passed to dismiss Faris from the Party over this issue.
In spite of the concerns raised by nations, Media Council and journalists, the bill is expected to be fast tracked through the Parliament.
The bill proposes to penalize any action or statements that attacks an individual, harms national security or goes against social norms will be penalized by any amount between MVR 5000 and MVR 2000000. If unable to pay the penalty, then the offender must serve a jail term between three and six months.
