Parliament green-lights motion to repeal contentious Defamation Act

The parliament passed the motion seeking to repeal the anti-defamation law on Wednesday.

The motion to repeal the Freedom of Speech and Defamation Act was filed by parliament representative for Henveiru Uthuru (North) constituency Abdulla Shahid, on behalf of the opposition coalition.

The contentious law that granted President Yameen's administration extensive powers over all media platforms, earned a total of 38 out of 51 votes towards abolishing the law. Only a total of 13 votes from PPM lawmakers sought to retain the law.

The subject of heated debate and strong opposition from media personnel since it was brought into effect in August 2016, the Defamation Act strictly limits all forms of expression, moving so far as to shut-down media outlets over failure to pay massive fines imposed.

Placing the burden of proof on media and in direct violation of their constitutional right to protect all sources, the law states that journalists may reveal their sources “confidentially” as a defence. Chapter 2, Article 6 of the Act also contains a clause reminiscent of George Orwell's 1984 concerning 'Freedom of Thought'.

A frequent casualty of the law, local media "RaajjeTV" was served massive fines by the Broadcasting Commission. However, fuelled by the generous assistance of private donors, the broadcaster successfully settled all penalties incurred.

The law also drew widespread criticism from various foreign governing bodies, including The European Union and the United Kingdom, with the British High Commission describing the Act as consisting of “broadly defined restrictions and severe penalties set out in the bill fall short of widely accepted international standards, as well the core values affirmed in the Commonwealth Charter.”

One of the main electoral pledges of President-Elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was to repeal the Act within the first 100 days of his administration. As such, it is presumed that President-Elect Solih would be the one to ratify the motion to repeal, as he is set to take office on November 17.

The move follows the recent abolishment of the Anti-Defection Act that was ratified by President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom on Tuesday. The bill was passed last month with votes from lawmakers of both the ruling party and opposition coalition.

Despite proposed annulment of the Defamation Act, archaic laws limiting the freedom of media such as the 1978 Act relating to Newspaper and Publications do remain in effect.