Journalists Petition Gayoom Over ‘Draconian’ Defamation Regulations

Journalists from across the political spectrum joined forces this week in an appeal to President Gayoom to scrap his plans to introduce draconian new defamation regulations, that reporters fear will severely limit press freedom in the Maldives.

Seventy four reporters signed a petition expressing concern that the proposed new laws will have a negative effect on the country’s nascent free media.

“The public is unaware of the implications of defamation regulations and there is no legal system to protect journalists. Therefore, we fear that execution of such a regulation at present will hinder the practice of journalism and wipe out freedom of reporting from the Maldives”, the petition stated.

The petition’s signatories included reporters from opposition newspapers, such as Minivan Daily, as well as from pro-government journals such as Haveeru and Aafathis. Employees from TV Maldives and radio station Voice of Maldives, both state-run enterprises, also signed the petition.

The proposed new regulations were drafted by Justice Minister Jameel but fall under the remit of Information Minister Mohamed Nasheed. The regulations have been severely criticised at home and abroad.

In a detailed report published in July, Article 19, a London-based freedom of expression pressure group with significant expertise in defamation laws, said there were “serious problems” with Nasheed’s proposed legislation.

“It is of particular concern that the definition of defamation is extremely broad,” Article 19 said.

Article 19 pointed to Articles 1(a) and 2(a) of the regulations, which states that defamation includes statements that damage a person’s “honour”:

“Under international standards, the only legitimate purpose of a defamation law is to protect reputations. Honour, however, is a subjective notion that goes well beyond the idea of reputation, which is the esteem in which other members of society hold a person. If restrictions on freedom of expression are based on subjective notions, they will inevitably fail.”

Article 19 is equally concerned that the regulations do not protect journalists from defamation even if the information they report is factually correct. According to the legislation, not only does a journalist’s article have to be truthful, it also has to contribute to “social harmony.”

The pressure group went on to condemn the regulations as “confusing”, “internally inconsistent”, and “poorly drafted.”

Journalists within the country fear that the regulations are a flagrant attempt by the government to silence its critics, who have become increasingly emboldened in the past eighteen months as political restrictions in the country have eased.

Under the proposed regulations, newspapers found guilty of defamation could be sued up to Rf. 1,000,000 ($78,000), ten times higher than the Rf.100,000 in blood money the law stipulates a murderer should pay to the family of their victim.

“These defamation laws will replace police batons as the regime’s favoured response to critical reporters,” said a representative of Minivan Daily, a newspaper that has seen dozens of its reporters jailed and intimidated by the government since it was granted a license to print in the Maldives in July 2005.

The Information Minister, however, insists that his new regulations, which change defamation from a criminal to a civil offence, are a vast improvement on existing laws that permit the imprisonment of journalists.

The government also says it hopes the new regulations will improve the quality of reporting in the country, which is often criticised for being slanderous and poorly researched.

But this argument is unlikely to hold much sway amongst the country’s press corp., particularly opposition journalists, who are routinely physically assaulted by the police, jailed by government-controlled judges and vilified in anonymous websites that are alleged to have close ties to the regime.

If the journalists’ appeal to President Gayoom goes unheard the defamation regulations will be implemented on January 1. The regulations are due to be imposed by presidential decree, thereby circumnavigating parliamentary scrutiny in the People’s Majlis.