RaajjeTV concerned over Civil Court rejecting case regarding MVR 2 mil fine

RaajjeTV has expressed concern over the Civil Court rejecting the TV station’s case over the MVR 2 million anti-defamation fine.

In a press statement on Wednesday, the privately-owned TV station stated that it had submitted the case to request the court to order that the deadline to pay the Maldives Broadcasting Commission’s MVR 2 million fine be pushed back to a later date.

RaajjeTV stated that it had noted in the request that the broadcasting commission’s action falls outside legal and Constitutional boundaries and that RaajjeTV is further incurring damages by having to determine the illegality of the commission’s actions while the deadline to pay the fine approaches.

After rejecting the case, the Civil Court’s registrar stated that an anti-defamation fine can only be appealed after the guilty party pays the fine in full before the deadline. However, RaajjeTV stated that it did not ask the Civil Court for an appeal under Airticle 32(a) of the Anti-Defamation Act but instead asked that more time be given to investigate the broadcasting commission’s report regarding the fine, which contained misinformation.

In the press statement, RaajjeTV noted that during the broadcast of the opposition rally held on March 16 from 23:24 to 23:35, the broadcasting commission claims that the station aired content that threatened national security and defamed President Abdulla Yameen but has repeatedly failed to detail exactly how it had done so.

RaajjeTV also stated that the broadcasting commission, in its letter to the station, claimed that it has fined the station MVR 2 million based on information the commission has received and after RaajjeTV refused to deny broadcasting the content in question, and failed to respond to requests to clarify the issue during the investigation and instead trying to dodge any penalization.

“It is certain that the broadcasting commission is continuing its agenda to damage RaajjeTV because its members do not believe that anything can be done by the TV station to receive any form of justice. Their actions are a means to create fear, ruin press freedoms, and prevent citizens from receiving information ahead of the presidential election by eliminating RaajjeTV since it believes that people turn to the station to receive accurate information.”

RaajjeTV has now been fined four times, the total amount being MVR 3.7 million. The TV station has to pay the latest MVR 2 million fine within 30 days, following which many viewers have been donating to its ‘Aburufulhu’ fund.