An unidentified gunman on a motorcycle shot and killed Oliveira outside his offices at Rádio Jornal 820 AM, where he hosted a sports program, on July 5, 2012.
The injunction cancels all legal proceedings in the case after 2015, including the 2022 jury conviction of four men in Goiânia, the capital of the state of Goiás, where the journalist was murdered. Among the convicted were Maurício Borges Sampaio, a businessman and current president of Atlético Clube Goianiense, and Ademá Figueredo, a military police officer still on active duty.
]]>On Monday, DW’s Spanish-language TV channel posted a video on X calling Venezuela “the world’s second most corrupt country” and reporting that high-ranking politicians were allegedly involved in cocaine trafficking, extortion, and illegal gold mining.
In response, Communications Minister Freddy Ñáñez accused DW of “promoting hatred” and defaming Venezuela. On Monday evening, the National Union of Press Workers (SNTP) said DW was no longer available on the country’s two main cable distributors, Supercable and SimpleTV. On his weekly TV program that day, Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s president, justified taking DW off the air by calling it a “Nazi” broadcaster.
“By taking DW off the air over a critical report, the Venezuelan government is once again demonstrating its overt hostility to press freedom in the country,” said CPJ’s Latin America program coordinator, Cristina Zahar, in São Paulo. “Venezuelans have a right to information, especially information that holds the powerful to account. Venezuela’s government must allow DW to return to the air.”
In a statement Tuesday, DW Director General Peter Limbourg said, “We urgently call on the Venezuelan government to once again ensure the distribution of the Spanish language DW television channel as quickly as possible. This restriction of DW’s broadcast is a serious encroachment on the freedom of the people in Venezuela to find independent information themselves.”
Amid government censorship of local media, international TV stations had been an important source of independent news coverage for Venezuelans, Carlos Correa, director of the Caracas-based press freedom group Espacio Público, told CPJ. However, since 2010 at least 14 channels, including CNN and news stations from Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and other countries, have been taken off the air, according to the SNTP. The union noted that DW transmissions were also briefly blocked in 2019 following the station’s coverage of anti-Maduro protests.
The blockage of DW comes amid a wider government crackdown on dissent, including the arrest last month of a prominent critic of Venezuela’s powerful military and the expulsion of a United Nations human rights agency, as the country gears up for the scheduled July 28 presidential election, in which Maduro is seeking another six-year term.
CPJ’s calls to Venezuela’s Communications Ministry and Maduro’s press office went unanswered.
]]>Here is CPJ’s briefing on the legal battle to extradite Assange, the charges he would face in the U.S., and why his prosecution is worrying for journalists in the U.S. and internationally.
What are the charges against Assange?
The 18 indictments against Assange stem from WikiLeaks’ obtainment and publication in 2010 of some 400,000 classified U.S. military documents relating to its involvement in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These leaks— the largest security breaches of their kind in U.S. military history—included a video showing the 2007 killing in Iraq of two Reuters journalists by a U.S. military airstrike.
Prosecutors allege that Assange unlawfully published the names of classified sources and conspired with former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to obtain classified information.
Manning was convicted in 2013 on espionage charges and served seven years in a military prison before President Barack Obama commuted the remainder of her sentence in 2017. Manning was again jailed in 2019 for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks and freed in 2020, as the judge said her detention was no longer serving “any coercive purpose.”
Seventeen of the charges against Assange are under the 1917 Espionage Act, which has been increasingly used by the Department of Justice to prosecute whistleblowers, CPJ has documented. The other charge, under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, is that Assange “encouraged” Manning to leak classified information.
If extradited and convicted in the U.S., Assange’s lawyers have said that he faces up to 175 years in prison, although U.S. prosecutors have said the sentence would be much shorter.
When did the U.S. government indict Assange?
The Justice Department in April 2019 unsealed an indictment accusing Assange of computer hacking under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. In May 2019, Assange was indicted on 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act for his role in obtaining and publishing classified U.S. government material. In June 2020, the U.S. filed a superseding indictment against Assange that broadened the scope of the computer hacking charges.
While the leaks in question in these indictments were published while President Barack Obama was in office, his Justice Department notably declined to file charges against Assange due what it termed a “New York Times problem”—namely if it indicted Assange, a legal pathway would be created for the Justice Department to prosecute The New York Times, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, and other media outlets that published the classified logs. This could allow for the prosecution of any journalists who publish leaked documents.
What’s at stake for journalism?
CPJ has long spoken out against the prosecution of Assange and the implications for press freedom globally, and repeatedly called for the charges to be dropped, including in a 2010 letter to Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder.
While Assange’s controversial diplomatic and military leaks have named and endangered vulnerable journalists, U.S. prosecution efforts have been described as “holding a gun to the head of investigative journalism.”
The arguments used in the indictments against Assange could establish a legal pathway for the prosecution of journalists and severely weaken the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of the press. Journalists’ right to report on matters of public interest without fear of censorship or retribution could be harmed.
If Assange were found guilty of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, it could facilitate the criminalization of investigative journalists’ interactions with their sources.
If Assange is extradited and prosecuted in the U.S. under the Espionage Act, it would allow the U.S. government to extradite any publisher of classified information from any country with which the U.S. has an extradition agreement. It would set a harmful precedent for governments worldwide, establishing a framework whereby states can pursue journalists through the courts, no matter where they are located.
Furthermore, the prosecution of Assange in the U.S. would be a gift to authoritarian leaders who could cite Washington’s example the next time they wanted to jail an irksome journalist or publisher.
How did Assange end up in the U.K.?
Assange sought asylum in the Embassy of Ecuador in London in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden where he was wanted for questioning on allegations of rape and sexual assault, which he denied. Assange’s legal team feared he would be handed over for onward extradition to the U.S. for prosecution.
Assange’s lawyers told the British High Court this month that the Trump administration planned to kidnap or kill Assange to “sustain impunity for US officials in respect of the torture/war crimes committed in its infamous ‘war on terror’…”
After falling out with the Ecuadorian government, Assange was evicted from the country’s embassy in April 2019, arrested by the British police for skipping bail, and imprisoned, pending the conclusion of the U.S. extradition case.
What’s next?
The British High Court is not expected to rule on Assange’s final application to appeal until March at the earliest.
If successful, Assange will be allowed to appeal on the grounds that his extradition would be a breach of the extradition treaty between the U.S. and the U.K., which prohibits doing so for political offences.
If Assange loses at the High Court, he will have 28 days to file an appeal at the European Court of Human Rights, one of his lawyers, Jennifer Robinson, said during a briefing on the case. If Assange was granted provisional measures, it would prevent the U.K. from extraditing him until a ruling from the ECHR.
]]>Editor’s note: The letter was updated to correct the name of the district attorney.
]]>Morin was in the encampment conducting interviews for a story about the Indigenous-led camp, which was targeted for demolition by the city of Edmonton, where 58% of the unhoused population is Indigenous, according to Ricochet.
While Morin was speaking with individuals in the encampment, police cordoned off the perimeter, Ricochet reported. In an article Morin wrote for Ricochet about her arrest, she recounted that police asked her to leave, and she told them that she had a right to be there as a journalist.
Morin was then handcuffed and placed in a police vehicle before being taken to police headquarters. Morin wrote that she was then searched by a female officer and held in a cell for five hours. While in detention, she was allowed to call for her daughter to be picked up and to contact her editor to arrange for a lawyer.
Morin wrote that she was charged with obstruction upon her release and was given a court summons for February 1. On that day, Morin was photographed and fingerprinted, the Guardian reported. Morin wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that her next court date is March 1.
If convicted, Morin could face up to two years in prison under Canada’s criminal code.
Morin was arrested in a media exclusion zone, where police can limit public access and where journalists have had trouble reporting in recent years. Canadian courts in two provinces have ruled that journalists are allowed to report in exclusion zones with very narrow exceptions.
An award-winning journalist and author, Morin has reported on missing Indigenous women and girls in Canada and the environmental impact of oil sands extraction on Indigenous communities.
The Edmonton Police media relations department said that they would not be commenting at this time since the matter is currently before the courts.
]]>The coalition, which included Article 19 Mexico and Central America, Protection International Mesoamerica, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP), and the Association of Journalists of El Salvador (APES), collaborated with civil society groups and journalists to address pressing challenges faced by the press during the pivotal electoral period.
On February 1, the coalition announced the mission to El Salvador and called upon the government to foster an environment conducive to journalistic endeavors, safeguard citizen’s right to be informed, and reinforce the media’s role in strengthening democracy. Read the full statement here.
On February 5, after the elections, the coalition expressed concern that the government used emergency measures to control information and stigmatize critical media during the elections and highlighted instances of self-censorship and other obstacles faced by journalists. Read the full statement here.
]]>The investigation was the result of a complaint filed by the Mato Grosso state governor, Mauro Mendes, in connection to two articles about a local judge’s alleged illicit conversations with miners under investigation for the use of illegal mercury.
The statement said, “It is incompatible with the Brazilian constitutional protection of the right to freedom of the press for a criminal instrument to be used against journalists, especially in the case of representation for an offense against honor.”
Read the full statement here.
]]>On Thursday, López Obrador responded to a request for comment during his daily press conference in Mexico City on a New York Times’ report that U.S. law enforcement officials had spent years informally investigating allegations that his allies had accepted millions of dollars from drug cartel — something López Obrador has vehemently denied.
During the press conference, the president showed screen captures of an email sent by The New York Times’ Mexico bureau chief, Natalie Kitroeff and read out her cell phone number. The next day, López Obrador defended his actions, stating that publicizing Kitroef’s contact information was “not an error” and claiming that his “moral authority is above the law.”
Divulging such information is in violation of Mexican privacy and protection of personal data laws, which are overseen by the National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and Personal Data Protection (INAI). That same day, the INAI said in a statement that it had opened an investigation into the matter.
The New York Times called López Obrador’s action “a troubling and unacceptable tactic from a world leader at a time when threats against journalists are on the rise.”
CPJ has reported on numerous cases in which journalists in Mexico, both domestic and foreign, have been subjected to threats and harassment via messages sent to their personal and work phones. Such threats and intimidating messages, often sent by members of organized crime groups and public officials via messaging apps, have a profound impact on both the reporters’ private life and their capacity to carry out their work as journalists.
“It is unacceptable and dangerous that Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador reveals the contact information of a reporter in response to critical questions asked of his administration by her outlet,” said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ’s Mexico representative. “In the deadliest country for journalists in the Western Hemisphere, where the vast majority of crimes against the press linger with impunity, reporters are constantly subjected to threats sent to their personal communication devices, with few, if any, of those threats ever properly investigated.”
According to CPJ research, at least 17 journalists have been murdered in Mexico in direct relation to their work since López Obrador assumed office on December 1, 2018. CPJ is investigating another 27 killings of reporters during that period to determine the motives behind their deaths.
A request for comment by CPJ via messaging app to López Obrador’s office has not received a reply.
]]>Dunlea was collecting audio for his podcast, Scene Report, at a February 10 protest in Brooklyn against Israel’s attacks on Gaza when he was arrested and charged with resisting arrest, a Class A misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to one year in prison, according to Dunlea, who spoke with CPJ in a phone interview, and his desk appearance ticket, which was reviewed by CPJ.
“We are very concerned by the arrest of freelance journalist Reed Dunlea, who was simply doing his job and covering matters of public interest,” said Katherine Jacobsen, CPJ’s U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean program coordinator. “New York authorities should immediately drop all charges against Dunlea. Arresting reporters is a way to stop the story from getting out and is a form of censorship. The NYPD must do better.”
Dunlea told CPJ that he was recording audio of an officer and protester yelling at one another when the officer ordered him to move away onto the sidewalk. Dunlea said he then identified himself as a journalist and showed his New York City-issued press pass, which he was wearing around his neck.
As the NYPD began detaining more protesters, Dunlea said he was “tackled” to the ground by approximately five officers before being handcuffed and led to a nearby police van. His audio recorder, a Zoom H6, and his Apple headphones were broken during the altercation.
Dunlea told CPJ that he was then transported to One Police Plaza, the NYPD headquarters, arriving at approximately 2:30 p.m. During his time in custody, police confiscated Dunlea’s electronics, including his cellphone and recording equipment. When the equipment was returned upon his release, Dunlea said that the audio he had recorded of the protests was no longer on the memorycard he had used.
Dunlea was released around midnight and issued with a desk appearance ticket ordering him to appear in court on March 1 at 5 p.m.
In addition to his work as a freelance audio reporter, Dunlea also works as the press secretary at a New York City-based nonprofit, and has also written for publications including the progressive local paper, The Indypendent. He previously worked as a visual journalist and writer for Rolling Stone.
CPJ reached out the NYPD public information office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
]]>On Thursday, freelance journalist Jean Marc Jean was struck in the face by a tear gas canister fired by an officer with the national police’s anti-riot squad in the capital, Port-au-Prince, according to media reports, as violent protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry rocked Haiti during the week.
On Wednesday, at least three reporters—Wilborde Ymozan, Lemy Brutus, and Stanley Belford—were injured when police used tear gas to disperse about 1,000 anti-government demonstrators in the southwestern coastal city of Jérémie, according to local media reports.
Tensions had been rising in Haiti ahead of February 7, the day that new presidents are traditionally sworn in. Elections that Henry promised would take place in 2023 were not held. Haiti has not had a president since Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in 2021.
Between January 20 and February 7, at least 16 people were killed and 29 injured, mainly during confrontations between protesters and police, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement on Friday.
On January 29, Charlemagne Exavier, a reporter with Radio Tele Lambi, was shot in the left leg by an unknown assailant while covering an anti-government protest in Jérémie, local media reported and the radio station’s owner, Michel Clérié, told CPJ.
CPJ has received reports from local media organizations — the Association of Haitian Journalists and the Online Media Collective — of as many as 11 journalists injured in protests across the country but has not been able to independently confirm the other six cases.
“We are very concerned about the wave of violent protests sweeping across Haiti and the impact they will have on journalists attempting to cover unfolding events,” said Katherine Jacobsen, CPJ’s U.S., Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator. “It is incumbent upon Haitian authorities to ensure that the media can safely report on such matters of public interest.”
In Port-au-Prince, Jean was taken to a local hospital on Thursday evening, according to Pierre Lamartinière, a video journalist who visited him.
“He was struck in the face and has a deep wound next to his nose. I am not a doctor, but I fear that he may have lost an eye,” Lamartinière told CPJ.
In Jérémie, Ymozan, who works for the online video outlet Tande Koze was hit in the leg by a projectile; Brutus, manager of local online video outlet Grandans Bèl Depatman, received stitches in his head after he was beaten and had his equipment stolen; and Belford, a reporter with Florida-based Island TV, sustained a hand injury, according to two local radio station owners, whose outlets covered the protests, and who spoke to CPJ on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.
The three journalists were treated in local hospitals for minor injuries, the news reports stated.
A photograph posted on X, formerly Twitter, by a local radio station on January 29 showed Exavier sitting in a hospital with a bandage on his leg. He was discharged later that day, Clérié told CPJ.
Haiti’s Inspector General of Police, Fritz Saint Fort, told CPJ that his office was looking into the five incidents but could not comment at this stage.
In a statement, Haiti’s national ombudsman, Renan Hedouville, who heads the Office for the Protection of the Citizen, called the incidents “a serious attack on press freedom.”
At least six Haitian journalists have been murdered in direct reprisal for their work since Moise’s assassination. Haiti was ranked as the world’s third-worst nation in CPJ’s 2023 Global Impunity Index, which measures where killers of journalists are most likely to go unpunished.
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