Legal Action

Dear Mr. Cabello: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by your recent announcement that regulators may revoke the concessions of 240 radio stations for failing to update their registration papers. We believe that this decision is yet another attempt by Venezuelan authorities to expand pro-government media, control the flow of information, and suppress dissent.

July marks the start of seal hunting season in Namibia, where hunters will be allowed to kill more than 90,000 seals. British journalist Jim Wickens and South African cameraman Bart Smithers filmed the event near Cape Cross Colony on Thursday morning for a British advocacy organization, Ecostorm. That is, until the journalists became the hunted.

New York, July 15, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the arrest of Zambian journalist Chansa Kabwela on bogus charges of circulating obscene materials. 

Dear President Biya: We are very concerned about an ongoing pattern of abuses against press freedom in Cameroon. In particular, we are alarmed by recent death threats against an editor, the recent prosecution of two others by a military tribunal, and the lengthy imprisonments of another two on libel charges. We call on you to use your influence to end practices that are undermining the free flow of information.

Dear President Nazarbayev: As an independent, nonpartisan organization defending press freedom worldwide, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on you to veto a severely restrictive draft Internet law, which will further curb press freedom conditions in Kazakhstan and is inconsistent with your country’s democratic aspirations.

New York, July 6, 2009–A criminal court has suspended a newspaper that reported on a horse-racing scandal, upholding a 2008 ruling. Its editor and publisher were also fined.

New York, July 2, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists rejects the politically motivated lese majeste charges filed on Tuesday by a private citizen against board members of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT). Violations of lese majeste laws are a criminal offense in Thailand, punishable by three to 15 years in prison.

New York, June 29, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Moroccan court decision today to impose fines and damages on three independent dailies for “publicly harming” Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, above, and “injuring his dignity.”

There should be no doubt that the government is continuing its offensive against the media following its military victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). On Wednesday, Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena confirmed what had been rumored for more than a week: The defunct Press Council, which was put to rest in 2002,…