Legal Harassment

New York, March 17, 2023—Angolan authorities should stop harassing the privately owned Camunda News website and ensure that members of the press can work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Wednesday, March 15, the outlet suspended its operations indefinitely, according to media reports and the outlet’s owner, David Boio, who spoke to…

Accra, March 6, 2023–Togolese authorities should drop all legal proceedings against journalists Ferdinand Ayité and Isidore Kouwonou and allow them to work free from harassment or threat of arrest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. Both journalists have been summoned to the country’s High Court in the capital city of Lomé for a trial…

The Committee to Protect Journalists has been responding to the needs of journalists in India as they confront a range of challenges, from criminal action to online abuse, and learn to navigate an increasingly hostile environment for the press.   Developed in collaboration with TrustLaw—the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s global pro bono service—this guide covers the legal…

Dakar, April 19, 2022 — Senegalese authorities should drop their prosecution of journalist Pape Malick Thiam, ensure he can work free of intimidation, and hold those responsible for beating him to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Gendarme officers arrested Thiam, a reporter with the privately owned broadcaster 7TV, while he was on…

New Delhi, April 11, 2022 – Authorities in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir must immediately and unconditionally release Kashmiri journalist Aasif Sultan and cease detaining journalists for their work and subjecting them to legal harassment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On Sunday, April 10, authorities in Jammu and Kashmir re-arrested Sultan, a journalist with…

Rio de Janeiro, February 23, 2022 – Authorities in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state should not pursue criminal defamation charges against journalist Thiago Herdy, and should refrain from criminally investigating journalists in retaliation for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On February 16, Minas Gerais state Attorney General Jarbas Soares Júnior filed a…

Istanbul, February 9, 2022 – In response to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s civil lawsuit seeking damages from journalist Sedef Kabaş and TELE1 television board chair Fırat Sakar, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement calling for the complaint to be dropped. “President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan should drop his civil suit against imprisoned…

Berlin, January 26, 2022 – Greek authorities should drop their investigations into journalists Kostas Vaxevanis and Ioanna Papadakou and ensure that members of the press do not face criminal charges over their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Prosecutors with the Special High Court in Athens recently summoned Vaxevanis, publisher and reporter with…

New York, December 13, 2021 — Togolese authorities should immediately release journalists Ferdinand Ayité and Joël Egah and halt legal harassment of Isidore Kouwonou, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On December 9, national police officers arrested Ayité, the publication director of the privately owned L’Alternative newspaper, after he responded to a summons to…

Berlin, October 8, 2021 — Croatian authorities should lift the gag order on the news website H-alter, and ensure that court actions do not silence the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On September 21, the Zagreb Municipal Civil Court, the capital, issued an injunction to H-alter, barring the outlet from reporting on…