Civil Court finds 'no wrong' in MBC fine imposed on RaajjeTV
RaajjeTV has not revealed whether or not they are to appeal the Civil Court’s decision
Well-wishers contribute to RaajjeTV\'s fund-raising drive to meet the hefty fine
The Civil Court has on Thursday ruled that there had been nothing wrong with the Maldives Broadcasting Commission's MVR 500,000 fine imposed onprivately-owned Raajje Television (RaajjeTV).
Hearings in the station’s case against the commission concluded on 5th December.
RaajjeTV has not revealed whether or not they are to appeal the Civil Court’s decision.
While RaajjeTV has been made to pay millions of rufiyaa in fines, the penalization in question was imposed over Thimarafushi constituency MP Mohamed Musthafa’s comments at an interview he gave on July 28th, 2017.
The station has been fined by sums of MVR 1 million, for supposedly defaming Maldives’ outgoing president Abdulla Yameen, and MVR 200,000. These fines were imposed on claims of slander, citing the anti-defamation law that has now been repealed, and threatening national security.
The station condemned the fine, expressing concern over the lack of any apparent procedure to take action or proficient means to ascertain what constitutes slander, or threat to national security.
“In the absence of regulations, the actions levied against Raajje TV this year is strongly believed to be politically motivated”, a statement from the station says.
RaajjeTV initiated public fundraising drives to pay off the fines; Managing Director Ahmed Saleem has said that any compensation received in its claim for damages will be given to charity, specifically ‘special needs’ aid initiatives.
