Freedom of Expression Stops Where and When Defamation Begins - Op Ed by Sir James Mancham
LAST night (Wednesday 4 May), I had the opportunity to follow the roundtable discussions which SBC hosted with Ms Marceline Evenor as Chairperson and a collection of ‘learned’ journalists and ‘selected’ local intellectuals as participants.
The whole debate was about journalists and their need for more and more and more information in order to deliver a higher level of more and more and more democratic journalism. At the end of the program I was left wondering what I had learned from the debate.
It appears to me that we are today living in an age of ‘information abundance’ which often brings to the surface far too many people who are versed at the MNOP level without having first mastered the ABCD.
One of the unfortunate aspects of the electronic age is that we are being overburdened with a flow of information (some solicited and some not) and changing information at such a rate and speed that we are unable to properly digest what we are learning and finally end up more confused than ever before. Perhaps this is what, in the first place, brought about the saying that “Ignorance is bliss.”
As a matter of fact, against the background of my personal philosophical approach to life, I have stated that so long as I am on the running, the destination is out of mind. It is only when I stop and start thinking that I discover that for every question there could be a hundred answers, and for every answer a thousand questions.
I was amazed that the debate on the whole touched very little on the subject of ‘defamation.’ Today high level defamation, libel and sedition cases are sending signals to journalists, that writing critical journalism can cost millions of dollars or years in prison. In this way, we see countries reputed to be democratic using the subtle approach within the means of law to silence criticism. Currently there are two cases – one in Bangladesh and one in Timor-Leste where two Editors are being sued for articles they wrote about their respective Prime Ministers. Sadly, these experienced editors failed to appreciate that press freedom and freedom of expression should not be traded for ‘press irresponsibility’ and or ‘irresponsible expression of freedom.’
I am personally very much acquainted with the law of defamation and as a law student I learned that freedom of expression stops where and when defamation begins. In my career as a journalist with a legal background – I have succeeded to navigate through the pros and cons of the law of libel, slander and the whole spectrum of defamation, to find myself finally in a win-win situation.
As a matter of fact, here in Seychelles, I sued Mr F.A René for defaming me by declaring that I was responsible for the high cost of rice and finally obtained not only an apology but also a substantial sum as damages. That was in the early days of party politics in Seychelles.
Since I returned to Seychelles from exile in 1992, I have also sued and obtained substantial damages from the late Percy Ah-Mane who was the Editor of The Independent. Unfortunately, I was never able to recover a penny from Mr Ah-Mane because he pleaded bankruptcy and had no visible assets which I could run after. This appears to indicate that a bankrupt person is in a better position to defame others than somebody with visible assets and money.
My experience with the law of defamation has also seen me winning substantial damages in the United Kingdom against such newspapers like The Financial Times, The Spectator and others. I am glad and proud to say that over the years that I have been an active correspondent for Reuters, for the Associated Press and either Editor or Publisher of Seychelles Weekly, Seychelles Review and VIOAS (Voice of the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea) – I have never for once been sued for defamation.
Now to go back to the question of the urgent need for the journalists in Seychelles to have more and more information – it is ironical to think that the best selling newspaper in London for many years has been the Daily Mirror, which normally is short on information but big in sensational headlines. Thus, we see a majority of the people bypassing The Times, Daily Telegraph and other newspapers, with analytical articles and fully comprehensive editorials, to purchase their tabloid for their required daily information – this despite the fact that the United Kingdom is indeed the land of great literature and long democratic traditions.
Today in Seychelles, we are talking a lot about more and more information at a period of world history where many Nations are all t oo often being ruled by Sergeant Majors who took over power through military means and then promoted themselves to the rank of Field Marshal and Brigadier General before becoming President.
More important at this critical stage of world history, is for us to be concerned by the policy of misinformation and disinformation which, sadly, are becoming more and more acceptable practice within the framework of the governance of so-called democratic powers who are controlling world affairs and global governance. With such practice in place, who are we to adjudicate on the veracity and quality of any additional information we may get?
James R. Mancham
Source: VIOAS
Views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of OCEANUSLive
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