EU urges Maldives to respect constitution, rights

European Union has echoed international concern over the Maldives government's move to criminalise defamation, stressing on the need to respect the constitution, including the freedoms of expression and of assembly.

In a statement hours after president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom ignored calls to veto the contentious defamation bill to sign the bill into law, EU said the penalisation of defamation and the high penalties prescribed in the Bill pose a direct threat to media, political opposition and civil society in the Maldives.

"The penalisation of such acts, in a country where the independence and functioning of the judiciary is not in compliance with international standards, is aggravating the situation further," the statement read.

The law, which the government pushed through its control in the parliament despite widespread international 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.

The bill now compels journalists to reveal their sources to prove the veracity of their published articles, news reports or comments and allows for media licenses to be cancelled in addition to the criminal liability faced by individual journalists.

The dangerous new provisions greatly hinder the functioning of an independent media devoid of intimidation and is less about providing redress for victims of defamation.

Those found guilty of breaking the new law will be fined between 50,000 Maldivian rufiya ($3,200) and 2 million rufiya ($130,000) or face a jail term of between three and six months.

The UN had also said it was “very worried” about the law.

“So basically it’s crippling freedom of expression including on the basis of defamation of religion, national security and social norms,” said Mona Rishmawi, chief of the Rule of Law branch at the U.N. human rights office.

The U.S. State Department issued a statement calling the law a “serious setback for freedom of expression in the country.”