MALDIVES – Criminal defamation now decriminalised
30 November 2009 9:16 pm

The
Maldives parliament has passed an amendment to the Penal Code
abolishing five articles providing for criminal defamation. ARTICLE 19
welcomes these developments and calls on the authorities to ensure that
they are brought into force as soon as possible.

(Source: ARTICLE 19, 25 November 2009)
The
Maldives parliament has passed an amendment to the Penal Code
abolishing five articles providing for criminal defamation. ARTICLE 19
welcomes these developments and calls on the authorities to ensure that
they are brought into force as soon as possible.

The Bill was passed overwhelmingly by
the People's Majlis on 23 November, in a clear victory for freedom of expression. This was despite the fact that the parliamentary committee
reviewing the Bill, proposed by the government, had recommended that it
be rejected and the crime of defamation retained. The Bill was part of
the government's wider platform to enhance respect for freedom of
_expression. It was also prompted by the announcement last year of the
newly appointed independent Prosecutor General that he would start
pursuing criminal defamation cases, reversing a prior practice of not
bringing such cases. A few criminal defamation cases have been brought
over the last year.

The decriminalisation of defamation was also one of the recommendations
in a joint report by ARTICLE 19 and UNESCO, Assessment of Media
Development in the Maldives, which applies UNESCO's Media Development
Indicators to the Maldives. The Assessment was launched in the Maldives
on 28 October 2009.

ARTICLE 19 is very pleased to welcome the Maldives to the growing
community of democracies around the world that have decriminalised
defamation and we call on the government and parliament to continue to
introduce needed reforms in the area of freedom of expression,
including in the areas of broadcasting and the right to information.