Accused Maguindanao mastermind may go free
New York, March 8, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is worried that a special five-judge panel named by the Philippines Court of Appeal in Manila will free the suspected mastermind behind the Maguindanao massacre, or release him on a technicality. Lawyers for Zaldy Ampatuan, the former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, have…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Philippines
Top Developments • Flawed procedures, witness intimidation, bribes mar Maguindanao prosecution. • Aquino pledges reform, but two more journalists are murdered for their work. Key Statistic 3rd: Ranking on CPJ’s Impunity Index, reflecting one of the world’s worst records in solving press murders. Trial proceedings began in September for the first 19 defendants in the…
Combating impunity, from commitment to action
This afternoon we sent out a press release announcing a $100,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to support CPJ’s Global Campaign Against Impunity. The campaign enters its third year in 2011, having achieved some significant successes, including high-level commitment to prosecute the killers of journalist in the Philippines and Russia.…
Suspect says he was hired to silence broadcaster
Police in the southern Philippine province of Palawan have an unusual head start in their investigation of Monday’s murder of radio broadcaster Gerardo Ortega. They apprehended the assassin at the scene, with the help of local firefighters and bystanders, and an unusual amount of information about the killing is already in the public domain.
Video Report: In pursuit of justice
A year after the massacre in Maguindanao province, a faltering Philippine legal system struggles to bring justice. From the murder scene in Ampatuan to the presidential palace in Manila, a CPJ delegation travels the country to examine the shocking attack and the many obstacles to winning convictions. Family members, justice officials, and political leaders talk…
CPJ’s Press Freedom Awards remember Maguindanao
November 23 marked both an evening of celebration of the courageous and remembrance of the slain: CPJ’s annual International Press Freedom Awards fell on the exact one-year anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre in the Philippines, the deadliest attack on the press ever recorded in CPJ history.
Marking Maguindanao, events for reflection, justice
Tuesday is the anniversary of the deadliest attack on the press ever recorded by CPJ. On November 23, 2009, 32 journalists and media workers were shot and killed in a massacre of 57 people in Ampatuan, in the southern province of Maguindanao. The victims were part of a convoy accompanying the supporters and relatives of…
Impunity on trial in the Philippines
The prosecution of dozens of defendants in the 2009 Maguindanao murders is testing a faltering judicial system in the Philippines. Bribes, intimidation, attacks, and flawed detective work already threaten to undermine the government’s case. Will this massacre go unpunished? A CPJ special report by Shawn W. Crispin