AG’s Office calls for appropriate penalty on Fiji Times

The Attorney General's Office has today called for an appropriate penalty to be imposed on The Fiji Times in the contempt of court case to ensure that it serves as a deterrent for would be offenders.   
  
This is a contempt of court proceeding where Oceania Football Confederation Secretary, Tai Nicholas made comments about Fiji's judiciary in the Sunday Star Times in New Zealand which was published last November and a day later was reprinted by the Fiji Times.

Acting Solicitor General, Sharvada Sharma said that the penalties that are imposed must send a clear message that such publications will not be tolerated.

Sharma also said that The Fiji Times is a repeat offender and appropriate penalties should be imposed.

Fiji Times lawyer, Jon Apted said the penalties should not be excessive and there should not be any imprisonment as this was a mistake by a third party.

He also said the mistake was not intentional.
 
Apted apologized on behalf of The Fiji Times in court today and offered to print a front page apology.

In court today, Apted highlighted how the error occurred on 6th November last year.

He said that the editor was well aware of defamation matters and once the matter was brought to his attention, he was remorseful.

Apted highlighted that the sports editor did not read the full article.
 
He said the Deputy Sports Editor reviewed the story and made a wrong decision as he was not aware of the legal implications.

Apted also said that following the incident, Fiji Times has instituted further training and constant newsroom meetings.

He said that the rule of the newsroom now is that if you cannot get a story reviewed, leave it out of the paper.

Apted said further steps are being taken to strengthen the system.

He said that every day at 8pm, the General Manager and the Publisher are sent a list of stories with a summary.

Apted said that The Fiji Times like any other media outlet is facing great difficulties in attracting staff at the editorial level and they have lost senior people in the last few months.

The judgment will be delivered on notice by Justice William Callanchini.

Story by: Vijay Narayan and Ronal Deo