Jailed For Telling Lies: About Time

Most people think of defamation as a civil offence, or tort, which it is. However, if the defamation is done with intent to cause or with recklessness as to whether it would cause material harm to a person, then it is also a criminal offence. In New South Wales, it is Sec 529 of the Crimes Act. There is a maximum penalty of 3 years jail.

Have a read of the recent Jeevani Wickramaratna case in England and you’ll see why. Strangely, she was only charged with sexual harassment. On reading the report, I’d have thought she’d done enough to warrant a criminal defamation charge as well.

The definition of defamation is the same for both criminal and civil matters. It has recently been updated in New South Wales, in the Defamation Act 2005. The defences are identical too, apart from negligence not being a defence to a civil action.

If you knowingly publish statements intended to be read as facts, which you know are false and which you also know will significantly damage another person’s reputation, relationship or financial situation, you should go to jail if you succeed.

That’s not the same as expressing strong opinions, or satirical misrepresentations. The statements must be such that a reasonable person would read them as intended statements of fact. Reasonable people can distinguish between fact and opinion. They can also distinguish situations in which statements about or representations of a person are not intended to be believed.

Jeevani Wickramaratna in the UK case was lucky to only get 6 months. Frankly, she’s lucky she picked soft targets, or more likely calculating. Someone else might have killed her.

Many would consider that to spread malicious lies like she did is worse than beating somebody up or stealing all their money. In fact, it’s like a combination of both … and both serious assault and theft carry custodial sentences.

There is such a sanction against violence in modern society, yet far too much leniency when it comes to telling lies about other people. Why is punching some mouthy twat now a hanging offence, yet spreading malicious lies about someone is rarely prosecuted? In fact, why is it considered far worse to beat the crap out of someone who has spread malicious lies about you than to spread the lies in the first place?

Probably because the person telling the lies is usually a woman or some soft shit who hides behind “non-violence” as a device to evade the one sanction they really fear.

I’m not saying it should be open slather on beating the shit out of people who piss you off, but there needs to be a rebalancing of the law toward more active sanction and punishment of people who tell malicious lies and a more honest evaluation of the mitigating circumstances in which some weasely cunt gets smacked ie. with the law written by practical people who actually do useful, productive work, not weasely cunts who survive on bullshit.