African Court upholds appeal against criminal defamation
Cape Town, South Africa, December 5, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today’s ruling by the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights in Addis Ababa that criminal defamation should be used only in restricted circumstances and that imprisonment for defamation violates freedom of expression. The court also upheld the appeal of Issa Lohé Konaté,…
South African court rules that criminal defamation is in line with constitution
Cape Town, South Africa, December 5, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the decision by the Pretoria High Court in South Africa to uphold journalist Cecil Motsepe’s appeal against a conviction of criminal defamation, but disapproves of the court’s ruling that the crime of defamation for journalists falls in line with South Africa’s constitution. Motsepe,…
CPJ welcomes Facebook move to enable access via Tor hidden service
San Francisco, November 3, 2014 – The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Facebook’s move to enable access via a Tor hidden service, which came into effect on Friday. The step protects journalists and other users who are at risk of surveillance, censorship, or online attack.
Press in Burkina Faso must be protected amid anti-government protests
Lagos, Nigeria, October 30, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed that protesters stormed and looted the offices of Burkina Faso’s national broadcaster Radiodiffusion Television du Burkina in the capital, Ouagadougou, today. Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets to protest a constitutional amendment that would allow President Blaise Compaore to seek re-election next…
Ethiopian court sentences journalist to three years in prison
Nairobi, October 27, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today’s sentencing of Ethiopian journalist Temesghen Desalegn to three years’ imprisonment on charges of defamation and incitement that date back to 2012. A court in Addis Ababa, the capital, convicted Temesgen on October 13 in connection with opinion pieces published in the now-defunct Feteh news magazine,…
Two French journalists convicted, sentenced in Indonesia
New York, October 24, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today’s conviction and sentencing to prison of French documentary filmmakers Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat on charges of breaking immigration laws in Indonesia. The two were sentenced to two months and 15 days in prison and are expected to be released next week because of…
Militant group must release kidnapped British journalist
September 18, 2014, New York–The Islamic State militant group released a video today that shows John Cantlie, a British freelance journalist kidnapped in Syria in 2012, making what he said would be the first of a series of statements, according to news reports. Cantlie’s abduction in Syria nearly two years ago was not previously reported…
CPJ condemns murder of US journalist Steven Sotloff
New York, September 2, 2014–The Islamic State militant group released a video Tuesday purporting to show the beheading of American freelance journalist Steven Sotloff, according to news reports. Sotloff, who was abducted in Syria in August 2013, would be the second American journalist murdered by Islamic State. In a video posted online on August 19,…