A Bill for an Act to amend the Media Industry Development Act 2010 is a “direct attack on media freedom” in Fiji, says Simione Rasova.
Contributing to the debate on the Bill yesterday, he urged the Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum to consult all the stakeholders in the media industry.
“For how long will the FijiFirst Government continue to gag media freedom in Fiji,” he said.
“Stop being selfish, stooping low to make personal vendetta from the outset we already know you’re targeting.”
He said media freedom had been deteriorating around the world over the past decade.
“I am asking the Attorney-General, again to please make wider consultation with all stakeholders in the media industry.”
In his reply, Attorney-General Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said the amendment was about ensuring that the media organisation that was registered stuck to the spirit of the law.
“And the spirit of the law is that the media organisation must be run by those people who are registered to run the organisation, must not be run by any outside organisation that could be not registered as a media organisation or is foreign based,” he said.
The Bill was passed in Parliament yesterday.
