Penal Code Bill:MPs Reject Fining Journalists For Defamation

Members of the Parliament have utterly slammed imposing a 750 thousand DZD on journalists for defamation, saying, ironically, the maintaining of prison sentence would be better.

The bill of penal code has been submitted for discussion to the lower house of the Parliament, and yet provoked controversy among MPs.

The majority of the people representatives rejected the amendment relating to replace the prison sentence by fining journalists convicted for defamation, saying it would shrink the freedom of press in the country.

The MPs have suggested the editors and the newspaper manager to assume the payment of the fine imposed on the journalist, given that they are also responsible for the published stories.

MPs of Islamist parties, including Al-Islah and HAMS have claimed lifting prison sentence on Imams, too.

As for the lift of the incrimination on the managing act, some MPs said such a procedure could turn into immunity for some managers, mostly when it comes to the embezzlement of public funds, saying that boosting the performance of the enterprises and the economy could not be achieved only by such a procedure.