New Maldives criminal defamation law threatens press freedom
New York, August 10, 2016–Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom should veto a criminal defamation law the parliament passed yesterday, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The legislation threatens to stifle criticism and investigative reporting.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines draft law would allow prison for defamation online
New York, August 8, 2016–Lawmakers in St. Vincent and the Grenadines should amend or scrap a draft cybercrime law that would allow for prison sentences of up to two years for defamation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Legislators are expected to consider the draft on Thursday, an opposition politician told CPJ.
Bolivian president’s criminal defamation suit threatens press freedom
New York, August 4, 2016 – Bolivian President Evo Morales should immediately drop a criminal defamation suit against a journalist that could have a chilling effect on press freedom in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Bolivian criminal court justice René Delgado announced yesterday that he would hear a case Morales filed…
Mission Journal: Morocco’s new press law undermined by draft penal code
In the small, polished Moroccan capital of Rabat, pictures of King Mohamed VI, who took the throne in 1999, hang in many shops, offices, and hotels. In most of these, he is clean-shaven, smiling, and wearing a suit: a modern monarch. His image is part of the official narrative of the country as a place…
Lesotho editor in critical condition after shooting
New York, July 13, 2016 – Lesotho authorities should launch a credible investigation into the shooting of veteran editor Lloyd Mutungamiri and bring all those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Mutungamiri is in critical condition in a hospital in South Africa, his employer told CPJ today.
Brazilian newspaper faces judicial harassment
São Paulo, June 20, 2016–A series of court cases filed against journalists and employees at the Brazilian newspaper Gazeta do Povo constitute judicial harassment and should be dropped immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Judicial officials in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná have filed 46 individual civil suits against five employees at…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of June 19
Court indicts TV journalist on terrorism charges for tweets The Bakırköy Second Court of Serious Crimes in Istanbul indicted Hamza Aktan, news editor at the pro-Kurdish television station IMC TV, on charges of “making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization” in connection with nine posts he made to Twitter from 2015 through January 2016, IMC TV…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of June 12
Constitutional Court rejects journalist’s appeal Turkey’s Constitutional Court today ruled that journalist Mehmet Baransu’s constitutional right to freedom of expression and the constitution’s guarantees of press freedom were not contravened in the journalist’s March 2015 arrest in connection with in an alleged, elaborate conspiracy codenamed “Sledgehammer.” The same court in May 2016 rejected his petition…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of June 5
Provincial officials ask journalists to submit to prior censorship: report Top officials in southeastern Turkey’s Gaziantep province, near the Syrian border, on June 1 convened local journalists to ask them not to report on “the bad things happening in the city,” and to submit their stories to a group on the messaging service WhatsApp which…
Court orders Brazilian blogger to delete posts
Two judges in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná ordered blogger Marcelo Auler to remove 10 articles from his website on the grounds that they offend police officers taking part in a federal investigation into corruption, Auler told the Committee to Protect Journalists.