Argentine PM proposes decriminalising libel

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez today proposed decriminalising libel and slander as a way of “guaranteeing even more” freedom of expression in Argentina.

“I prefer a billion lies to shutting someone’s mouth,” Fernandez said in an address to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission.

“This is how I understand freedom and human rights,” she told members of the organisation, in Argentina to commemorate a visit 30 years ago that helped expose crimes committed by the military dictatorship.

Fernandez said she has defended “the freedom to say what you want and think, even when it’s a lie.”

Currently, libel and slander convictions carry fines and prison terms of up to three years.