Defamation

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined a coalition of 28 other international press freedom organizations to call on Kyrgyz authorities to drop defamation lawsuits and to end the practice of using disproportionate fines, travel bans and other harsh penalties to punish critical media outlets and journalists.

New York, February 14, 2018–Moroccan authorities should drop all charges against Akhbar al-Youm columnist and publisher Taoufik Bouachrine on appeal, and allow him to work without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Bogotá, Colombia, January 18, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the Colombian Supreme Court ruling that forces a business magazine to reveal its sources and urges the court to overturn its decision on appeal.

Lomé, January 8, 2018–Nigerian authorities should immediately release Timothy Elombah, editor of the news website Elombah, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Security forces arrested the journalist at his home in Nnewi, a city in Anambra state, on January 1, 2018, according to his lawyer, Obunike Ohaegbu, and media reports.

New York, December 21, 2017–Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo should immediately release broadcast journalist Benjamin Mutiya, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The national security service (ANR) arrested Mutiya, a reporter at the community station Radio Télévision Communautaire de Walikale (RTCWA), in Walikale, on December 14, according to local press freedom groups.

Since taking office in May, Ecuadoran President Lenín Moreno has pledged to end a decade-long battle between the government and the media. But several reporters and editors with whom CPJ spoke said that the anti-press campaign carried out by Moreno’s predecessor, former President Rafael Correa, has caused lasting damage to journalism in Ecuador.

New York, October 4, 2017–Authorities in Pakistan should drop charges against journalist Shabbir Siham, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan region summoned Siham for a hearing on October 7 on accusations of fabrication and extorting a regional minister in violation of Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act, according to news…

New Delhi, August 11, 2017–An Indian court’s preliminary injunction preventing the publication and sale of a biography of a spiritual guru while it considers whether the book defames the guru is a blow to press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.