Member of Parliament for Kulhudhuffushi South Constituency Mohamed Nasheed has stated that the proposed Defamation Bill hinders media and that there were many concerning issues with the bill as it is now.
Speaking in the debate session of the Parliament, Nasheed said that clauses and articles are drawn in the Constitution, as there were some supporting elements. He said that though there was a separate section for media in the Defamation bill there were no supporting elements.
Nasheed, who had served as Information Minister and Legal Reform Minister, said the bill list a penalty of any amount between MVR 50000 and MVR 2000000. He added the bill stipulates that this penalty must be paid prior to appealing the verdict and therefore, this cannot be taken as a conducive measure to media.
"If a person has a grievance and wished to appeal that sentence, but having to settle that penalty prior to appealing is not acceptable. I do believe that tax cases cannot be filed in Tax Appeal Tribunal without paying the invoices. But this is done to ensure that the Government's revenue stream is not improved. But that is not a precedent for defamation cases," Nasheed said.
Nasheed, a key figure in many laws currently applicable in the country, expressed the most concern over the clause which dictates that a statement must be sought from the person allegations are made against.
"Journalism and civilized societies allows a person to respond to allegations if he wishes to. The response to be written in the same vein as the original story, whether a day or two days later. The clause currently states that the story cannot be published without a statement from the alleged party. This is not conducive to media," he said.
Nasheed said that the person who makes the allegation has to prove his reasoning behind the allegation and the respondent has to make his case against the allegation. He added that he hoped these aspects will be taken into consideration in the Committee review stage.
