Fiji media law a blow to media freedom

The new media law promulgated on 25 June 2010 will further restrict media freedom in Fiji and perpetuate violations of people’s right to freedom of expression, warns Amnesty International.

Despite the Government’s amendment of the draconian draft decree, journalists can still be imprisoned for being critical of the Government. Now that the decree has been enacted, widespread censorship, already in place under the April 2009 Public Emergency Regulations (PER) will be extended and deepened.

“The past actions of the Fijian Government have shown that it does not have any real commitment to upholding media freedom,” says Patrick Holmes, CEO of Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand.

“Amnesty International fears that the decree’s vaguely worded provisions will be used to punish peaceful critics of the Government,” says Holmes.

The decree allows the Government to exert greater control of media content and ownership through a powerful new media authority. The Fiji Media Industry Development Authority set up under the decree is tasked with ensuring that local media do not publish material that threatens public interest or order; is against the national interest; or creates communal discord. It will have wide powers of investigation over journalists and media outlets, including powers of search and seizure of equipment.

A Media Tribunal will decide complaints referred by the Authority, and will be able to impose two year jail terms, and fines of up to USD 500 for journalists, USD 12,500 for publishers and editors, and USD 50,000 for media organisations. Despite these highly punitive powers, it will not be bound by formal rules of evidence.

Another aspect of the decree is a local ownership requirement that 90% of beneficial shareholders be Fijian citizens permanently residing in Fiji. Media outlets that do not comply with this requirement are expected to be shut down within three months from the decree’s enactment.

This provision will likely result in the closure of the Fiji Times, an independent newspaper which has been critical of the military and Government. The Fiji Times, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Limited, has been accused by the Government recently of being biased and unprofessional.

Background
In April the Government carried out a two-day consultation on a draft media bill with media representatives. Participants were given only two and a half hours to read the 50-page document before they were asked to make comments and submissions on the draft decree. They were not permitted to take away copies for circulation. Following widespread concerns regarding the contents of the bill, public consultations were extended.

Since the military takeover in December 2006, intimidation and threats against journalists and editors of local and overseas media outlets have been the norm. Several overseas journalists and expatriate editors have been deported beginning in 2008

The abrogation of the Constitution in April 2009 saw a renewed crackdown on freedom of expression and increased censorship under the Public Emergency Regulations. These emergency laws have been regularly renewed since then, now in place until at least the end of September 2010.

ENDS