Journalists concerned over proposed defamation bill

Journalists in Pakistan are alarmed and outraged over government proposals to increase the penalties for anyone - including publishers, editors, reporters and distributors - held liable for defaming others. A government bill, introduced in parliament on 29 July, holds that defaming a person is a crime no less heinous than murder in the South Asian state. "It is observed that there is a general tendency to scandalise and defame others, including public figures, whereby perceptible injury to their reputation is caused, either for an ulterior motive or through irresponsible conduct," said a written statement from the government attached to the bill. The existing defamation law that the government wants to make tougher was promulgated in 2002 by President Pervez Musharraf. Seeking amendments to the Defamation Ordinance 2002, the new bill proposes to increase the term of imprisonment from three months to one year and the fine from 50,000 rupees (US $880) to 300,000 rupees ($5,283) for those found guilty of an offence. "In case of libel, the publisher, editor, reporter and the distributor shall be severally and jointly liable to an action for defamation under the ordinance," the proposed amendment says. Journalists have protested against the government's move, threatening a nationwide protest if the bill comes into force. "The bill ignores the recent judicial verdicts that protect journalists against defamation charges, erodes the universally accepted effects of rejoinder and retraction, provides damages in monetary terms in a manner that could vitiate the principle of penalty being proportionate to the harm caused, and provides for imprisonment which is unacceptable in civil cases," Imtiaz Alam, secretary-general of the South Asian Free Media Association, told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. "There are already many laws dealing with defamation. Why can't they be enforced by asking the courts to speed up hearings?" he asked. "Without access to documents and in a closed system, the press is forced to rely either on circumstantial evidence or the statements of sources that would speak only on the condition of anonymity," an editorial in the English-language Daily Times argued. There are examples to illustrate this. On 18 January 2003, Federal Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat served a 500 million rupees (almost $ 9 million) notice on the Daily Times' sister publication, The Friday Times, after it allegedly libelled him. The weekly's management said it had published nothing which had not been published before by others. Three days later, the minister denied reports that he had been convicted of a crime before joining the cabinet and issued a legal notice to the Urdu-language daily Khabrain which had published the report. Later he admitted in the National Assembly that his name was on the official Exit Control List which bars important people wanted in criminal cases from leaving the country. "While the country is facing a high tide of terrorism, the government has chosen to terrorise the press by further blackening the existing draconian Defamation Ordinance 2002," Syed Fasih Iqbal, a spokesman for the All Pakistan Newspaper Society (APNS), told IRIN. The government argues that, under Article 14 of the Constitution of Pakistan, the dignity of man and, subject to law, the privacy of the home, was inviolable. It quoted the Koran as saying: "Those who love (to see) scandal broadcast among the believers, will have a grievous penalty in this life and in the hereafter." But the APNS representative felt that the government was bent upon completing the "unfinished agenda of 2002 to strangle press freedom". The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has described the bill as another attempt by the government to curb freedom of expression. "The Musharraf regime is making new laws and amending the existing ones with the aim to strengthen its rule and get desired results. The amendment in the defamation laws is aimed at curbing the anti-government voice," SCBA Vice-President Muhammad Ikram Chaudhry told IRIN from Islamabad. "That is chicanery, not honest legislation, and makes the government's motives suspect. This law would be used for victimising political opponents and those editors, publishers and reporters who went against the government," he said. In the same vein, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said the proposed amendment to the Defamation Ordinance was aimed at terrorising the press. "The amendment seeks to make defamation a criminal offence under the Pakistan Penal Code, and targets publications. The HRCP stands by press bodies opposing the law, as it would have a negative impact on free expression. While it can be hoped that the prime minister is sincere in his assurance of reconsidering the proposed amendment, the problem lies in broader government policies which target the media," an HRCP statement said. Opposition parties, however, have taken another route. The Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, a group of opposition parties led by Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N, has submitted two amendments to the bill, including one that refers the draft law to the Council of Islamic Ideology to seek its guidance on the matter. Saying the new bill was aimed at purging politics of allegations and character assassination, Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain recently assured journalists that the objectionable clauses of the bill would be discussed with the press bodies and their concerns accommodated. He gave the assurance at a meeting with the representatives of journalists, who boycotted the morning proceedings of the National Assembly to protest against the inclusion of reporters, editors, publishers and even distributors in the defamation laws. The press community of Pakistan remains unconvinced. The APNS representative recalled that the government had agreed to amend Defamation Ordinance 2002 after the media body rejected it. "But instead of incorporating agreed amendment, the officials will get reporters, editors, publishers and distributors jailed and fined," Iqbal said.