Maldives broadcasting regulator has decided not to pursue action against state media despite finding possible libel against two former presidents.
Broadcasting commission said Television Maldives operated under the state owned Public Service Media (PSM) in August had broadcast a report heavily criticizing former president Mohamed Nasheed who was jailed on a terror charge last year before he was allowed to leave the country in an internationally brokered deal in January and former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
The report aired on TVM was based on a Tweet by Gayoom who has withdrawn support for the government after a fallout with his half brother and incumbent president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
The elder Gayoom lost control of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) after court order handed party control to his younger half brother.
TVM had interpreted the Tweet as Gayoom publicly supporting former president Mohamed Nasheed.
The report which was also published on the PSM website, accused the Gayoom who ruled the country for three decades before losing the 2008 president elections to Nasheed after linking the Tweet to the election “anti-Islamic” slogan “Fun without fear” used by Nasheed in the 2013 election campaign.
The report also said Gayoom was supporting his arch nemesis Nasheed.
Broadcasting commission said it had decided not to pursue action against TVM under the new defamation law as both former presidents had refused to file an official complaint.
The law passed by the parliament despite widespread criticism, criminalises speech deemed to be defamatory, to comment against “any tenet of Islam”, to “threaten national security” or to “contradict general social norms”.
Those committing an offence under the bill can face fines and failure to pay the fine will result in jail sentence of three to six months.
