Maldives passes defamation law despite UN warnings 

MALÉ, Maldives: The Maldives’ parliament passed a new defamation bill on Tuesday despite US-led international concern that it risked undermining basic freedoms on the troubled honeymoon islands.

The parliament dominated by lawmakers from President Abdulla Yameen’s Progressive Party of Maldives voted 47 to 31 in favour of the controversial bill that criminalises defamation.

The main opposition as well as rights activists say the law allows the government to impose severe penalties on those seeking to exercise freedom of speech, including shutting down news organisations and jailing journalists for up to six months.

A coalition of opposition parties said the passage of the controversial law was a retrograde step in a country which abolished criminal defamation in 2009, a year after its first democratic elections.

"The Maldives United Opposition (MUO) views the passage of the law as clear proof of regression of democracy in Maldives and a step backwards from democratic norms," the group said in a statement.

It accused Yameen of enacting the legislation to silence critics who accuse him of corruption.

The Indian Ocean archipelago, whose beaches are a popular attraction for wealthy Western tourists, adopted multi-party democracy in 2008 after three decades of autocratic rule by Yameen’s half brother, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

But it has been gripped by turmoil since its first democratically-elected leader Mohamed Nasheed was toppled in 2012 in what he claims what was a coup.

Nasheed, whose jailing last year on terror charges has been widely criticised by the West, has since secured political asylum in Britain after travelling there for medical treatment while on prison leave.

Opposition parties, some of which had opposed Nasheed earlier, have united in their campaign against Yameen.

Journalists staged a protest outside parliament as the law was passed.  "This is truly the end of free media in the Maldives. The government no longer needs an excuse to shut down media outlets or crack down on dissenters," Ali Naafiz, assistant editor of the private Mihaaru news website, said.