Website owner fined for defaming MP online

An owner of a local news website accused of defaming a parliamentary member online was fined BD100. He was spared jail term, though he was convicted of defaming the MP online. The defendant is said to have broadcast that the MP’s surname was evoked by the Court of Urgent Matters “because he was exploiting it to attract votes during the elections.”

He wrote in the broadcast that the MP had falsely added the surname, which belongs to a renowned tribe, in 2011 before taking advantage of it during the previous elections.

“I saw this (the broadcast information) published in a local newspaper. So I called the journalist who wrote it and he confirmed the validity of this news,” the defendant said.

“The MP asked me about the name of the journalist who wrote it, but I apologised to him and I took off the news from the website. But I refused to reveal the identity of the journalist,” he added.