MMC: Major concerns on the bill, priority is discussion

Maldives Media Council (MMC) has said that there are major concerns regarding the new bill on Anti-defamation and Freedom of Expression and to resolve them, the priority is going to a discussion.

Speaking at a press conference at the Media Council this afternoon, the President of MMC, Mohamed Asif (Mondhu) said that small changes were made when the bill came to the Parliament for a second time but the main amendments suggested by the MMC are still missing on the bill.

Mondhu said that the concerns regarding the first draft of the bill presented at the Parliament by the Majority Leader, Ahmed Nihan Hussasin Manik was also discussed with the relevant authorities and before a solution could be found, the bill making it to the Parliament again is saddening. He said that there is still a chance to bring changes to the bill.

At the press conference today, member of the MMC Committee that researched the bill, Ahmed Hamdhoon said that MP Nihan requested assistance from the MMC when preparing the second draft to the bill for the Parliament during the initial discussions on the bill. And he said that MP Nihan assured that the second design of the bill would not move forward without the involvement of MMC.

Hamdhoon said that the second draft of the bill came to light without any consultation with the MMC against the commitment given in the first round of discussions.

The MMC noted that some of the basic rights are violated in the new Anti-Defamation bill. Media Council said that the definition of defamation in the bill needs to be changed to a civil suit rather than a criminal offence.

While the Anti-Defamation bill makes into the Parliament the fine for defamation and expression of thought on false events is put between MVR 50,000 and MVR 2 million.