The Maldives Journalist Association has urged parliament to decriminalize defamation when the bill to amend the penal code comes up for voting.
“We strongly call on all Parliamentarians to vote to remove all clauses in the Penal Code which currently make defamation a criminal offence,” the Association said in a statement.
The association voiced concerns over what it called the “unanimous decision of the social affairs committee of the Parliament to keep defamation as a criminal offence.”
It faulted the committee over not consulting a single media worker regarding the matter.
“While the committee sought the expert opinion of a variety of professionals from various fields, we find it highly suspicious that the committee failed to consult even a single media worker even though they will be the ones to be negatively affected on most occasions if the Penal Code continues to treat defamation as a criminal offence.”
The statement said “in a liberal democracy defamation should be kept strictly as a civil offence.”
If defamation continues to be a criminal offence, “journalists will fear to work freely” taking Maldives’ democracy “several steps backward,” it said.
“Transparent and democratic governance can be conducted only by decriminalizing defamation,” it added.
Although, the provision remained in the penal code, the government in 2005 stopped prosecuting defamation as a criminal offence.
But attempts are now on to implement the controversial provision by brining in an amendment to the penal code.
- Asian Tribune -
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