Attacks on the Press in 2005: Introduction
By Ann CooperOn May 2, when the Committee to Protect Journalists identified the Philippines as the world’s most murderous country for journalists, the reaction was swift. “Exaggerated,” huffed presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye, who was practiced at dismissing the mounting evidence. He had called an earlier CPJ analysis of the dangers to Philippine journalists “grossly misplaced…
Attacks on the Press 2005: Brazil
BRAZIL Brazil’s constitution guarantees free expression and prohibits censorship. But in practice, the news media are impeded by defamation lawsuits so common they’re known as the “industry of compensation” and by lower court judges who routinely interpret Brazilian law in ways that restrict press freedom. Authorities won important convictions in the recent murders of two…
In Brazil, a disputed court order bans coverage of spy case
New York, December 13, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the latest example of judicial censorship in Brazil, where a São Paulo court has ordered the daily Folha de S.Paulo to stop publishing reports about a criminal case. A Federal District Court judge ordered the São Paulo-based newspaper to stop publishing reports about a pending…
Top Brazilian journalist held hostage by punitive lawsuitsAward winner cannot attend presentation; CPJ seeks changes
Belém, Brazil, November 15, 2005—A leading Brazilian journalist being honored by the Committee to Protect Journalists with a prestigious International Press Freedom Award cannot attend the presentation this month because a series of punitive criminal lawsuits has made him a virtual hostage in his Amazonian hometown. “It’s crucial for me to stay in Belém to…
Arson attack on newspaper and two radio stations
New York, September 12, 2005 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns yesterday’s arson attack on the offices of daily Diário de Marília and sister radio stations Diário FM and Dirceu AM in the city of Marilia, in the state of São Paulo. José Ursílio, Diário de Marília’s editor in chief, declined to speculate who…