High Court on Wednesday was asked to issue a stay order on penalties in defamation cases until the appellate court rules on the case seeking to annul several clauses in the contentious anti-defamation law.
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.
Three prominent local lawyers had challenged several clauses in the law which they have argued contradicts constitutional rights.
The High Court had accepted the case in January.
The reasons outlined for the stay order request argued that if the penalties are enforced before the appellate court rules on the case it could cause irrecoverable losses to both media organizations and individuals.
Those found guilty of breaking the new law will be fined between MVR50,000 Maldivian rufiya (USD3,200) and MVR2 million (USD130,000) or face a jail term of between three and six months.
