This refers to the editorial, “Defame, be penalised” (May 16). Free speech and a free Press are essential components of a vibrant democracy and it is sad that this aspect has not received due attention or consideration from the Supreme Court while upholding the constitutional validity of the colonial law on criminal defamation.
Nobody is against dealing with defamation (libel or slander) as a civil wrong and taking remedial action, but its criminalisation with a two-year jail stint will only shackle public-spirited activists, intellectuals, investigative journalists and whistleblowers who are needed to speak the truth to those in power.