Staff Writer
THE African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) has welcomed the recent Constitutional Court ruling that outlawed criminal defamation.
The ACHPR’s Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information, Lawrence Mute, described the ruling as “an extremely important victory for freedom of expression in Lesotho and it is in line with the commission’s resolution on repealing criminal defamation laws in Africa”.
In a unanimous judgment delivered a fortnight ago, the Constitutional Court struck off Section 104 of the Penal Code Act 6 of 2010 and its ancillary sections 101, 102 and 103 which provide for criminal defamation as being inconsistent with section 14 of the constitution which guarantees freedom of expression.
The ruling by the CC has become a major victory for Lesotho’s media and the country in general.
The CC’s scathing judgment against provisions of the Penal Code which criminalise defamation means Lesotho becomes only the second southern African country after Zimbabwe to eliminate criminal defamation from its statutes.
The CC’s decision has been hailed across the world as a major victory for freedom of expression and the press. It is a major boost in the quest for greater media freedoms in Lesotho and across Africa where authoritarian regimes still rely on criminal defamation to suppress dissent.
The judgment followed an application by the Publisher of the Lesotho Times and Sunday Express newspapers, Basildon Peta who challenged the constitutionality of criminal defamation.
Mr Peta argued that criminal defamation was inconsistent with constitutional provisions that guaranteed freedom of expression. He argued that even Zimbabwe had outlawed despite its status as a rogue state under former president Robert Mugabe.
Several local and international organisations have welcomed the decision of Lesotho’s Constitutional Court to strike down criminal defamation over the last two weeks.
One of those organisations is the ACHPR which issued a statement on Thursday, through its Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, Commissioner Lawrence Mute.
“This ruling represents an important victory for freedom of expression in Lesotho and it is in line with the ACHPR’s resolution on repealing criminal defamation laws in Africa, which calls on state parties to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to repeal criminal defamation or insult laws which impede freedom of speech.
“Accordingly, the Special Rapporteur calls on Lesotho to support the passage of any necessary consequent policy and legislative changes to ensure the full promotion and protection of the right to journalistic freedom of expression and indeed freedom of expression generally in line with the African Charter,” Mr Mute said in the statement.