Maldives' broadcasting regulator on Tuesday handed the first fine under the new defamation law to opposition aligned Raajje TV and a station journalist.
Maldives Broadcasting Commission (MBC) in a statement said Raajje TV during its news hour on November 19 last year had reported that a social worker named Fasaahath Hussain had tried to persuade the family of a rape victim in Seenu Atoll Hithadhoo island to cover up the incident.
Fasaahath had claimed defamation saying that Raajje TV had failed to obtain a comment before airing the report.
MBC after investigating the complaint had found Raajje TV in violation of the defamation law and had fined the station MVR200,000 (USD12,970). The commission had also found the journalist responsible for the news report liable and slapped a MVR50,000 (USD3,242) fine.
Raajje TV is required to pay the fine to the commission within 30 days.
The law passed last year 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.
