The Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) and its former CEO, Riyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, have been mandated to each pay former Social Democratic Liberal Party MP Niko Nawaikula $10,000. The case originated from a Facebook post by Mr. Nawaikula in 2017 that called for the resignation of Mr. Sayed-Khaiyum, who was an Air Terminal Services (ATS) board member at the time, and criticized FBC’s financial status. FBC and Mr. Sayed-Khaiyum sued for defamation, claiming Nawaikula’s post intended to harm their reputations.
However, Justice Brito-Mutunayagam dismissed their complaints in 2020, asserting that none of the statements were defamatory. While later that year, the Court of Appeal deemed Nawaikula’s words as a personal attack on Mr. Sayed-Khaiyum, this ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court. On June 28, Acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo and Justices William Calanchini and Lowell Goddard determined that the post wasn’t defamatory and was based on materially true facts.