Civil Court has on Wednesday concluded hearings in private television station RaajjeTV’s case to compensate damages from the state for a fine of MVR 500,000 slapped on it by the Maldives Broadcasting Commission.

Both the Broadcasting Commission and RaajjeTV were given the opportunity to give their statements at the last hearing of the case, held on Wednesday.

The broadcasting commission stated in their defense that they had looked into the matter thoroughly and rightfully.

Also, at the last hearing, Mohamed Nishan Ibrahim, RaajjeTV’s attorney said that the commission had fined RaajjeTV unlawfully and that the constitution does not give the commission the power to conduct investigations. He also said that the commission had failed to follow due procedure in investigating the case.

At Wednesday’s hearing, the defendant had also appealed at court to nullify the commission's fine.

The judge asked the plaintiff what they think of the fines following the nullification of the Anti-Defamation Act. Broadcom responded that it stands firm with its initial decision.

The fine was imposed over Thimarafushi constituency MP Mohamed Musthafa’s comments in an interview he gave to RaajjeTV on July 28th, 2017.

After initiating a fundraising to help the station pay off the hefty fine, RaajjeTV has since paid it off.

The station has since filed suit at the Civil Court against Broadcom which had repeatedly imposed hefty fines under allegations of defaming as well as threats to national security under the draconian Anti-Defamation Act implemented in 2016, but has since been repealed.

In October, the private broadcaster had released even released a statement asserting that the penalty levied by MBC was aimed at eliminating the free media in the Maldives.

The station’s Managing Director Ahmed Saleem has since said that if reimbursed, the station would use it to aid those with special needs, as such the station would donate the sum reimbursed to help those with special needs.