Defamation suit in Thailand restricts BBC reporter’s freedom of movement
Bangkok, February 28, 2017–A court in Thailand has seized the passport of BBC reporter Jonathan Head in response to a criminal defamation suit filed by a Thai lawyer over a news report on alleged fraud committed on the tourist island of Phuket. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the restrictions on the reporter’s freedom of…
Kenyan court finds criminal libel laws unconstitutional
New York, February 6, 2017–Today’s ruling by Kenya’s High Court that the country’s criminal defamation law is unconstitutional is a welcome step toward safeguarding press freedom and free speech, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Greek police raid newspaper office
Roughly 10 police officers on January 10, 2017, raided the Athens headquarters of the Greek daily newspaper Parapolitika and arrested the newspaper’s director, Panagiotis Tzenos, Greek and regional media reported. The newspaper’s publisher, Yiannis Kourtakis, was taken into custody later that day, according to Greek media reports.
Nigerian police raid investigative news website’s office
Lagos, Nigeria, January 19, 2017–Nigerian authorities should drop all charges against Dapo Olorunyomi, publisher of the news website Premium Times, and Evelyn Okakwu, who covers the judiciary for the website, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Plainclothes police officers raided the website’s office in the capital Abuja and arrested the two today, holding them…
UK’s Section 40 press law would curb independent, investigative journalism
British journalists say the future of independent and investigative journalism in the U.K. is at stake, as a deadline for public consultation on press regulation ends tomorrow. If it is implemented, Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 would leave news outlets not signed up to an official press regulator liable for the…
Transition to Trump: First Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams on Trump’s power over libel laws
As a new presidential administration prepares to take over the U.S., CPJ examines the status of press freedom, including the challenges journalists face from surveillance, harassment, limited transparency, the questioning of libel laws, and other factors.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of December 11
Columnist jailed pending ‘insult’ trial for remarks on Syria Istanbul’s Ninth Court of Penal Peace this evening ordered Hüsnü Mahalli, a columnist for the leftist newspaper Yurt, jailed pending trial on charges of “insulting the president” and “insulting a board of civil servants in the course of discharging their duties,” the official Anatolia Agency reported.
Mozambican journalist detained for 34 days
Police arrested Arcénio Sebastião Macuene, a Mozambican freelance journalist, on October 8, 2016, and held him on charges of defaming a police official until press freedom advocates paid his bail on November 11, Mozambican journalists and press freedom advocates told the Committee to Protect Journalists.