Americas

  
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, pictured in a prison van in the U.K. on May 1, 2019. The U.S. has disclosed charges under the Espionage Act against Assange. (Photo: AFP/Daniel Leal-Olivas)

CPJ welcomes reports that Assange will be released in plea deal

New York, June 24, 2024— The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes reports that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be freed from prison in a plea deal with the United States Justice Department. “Julian Assange faced a prosecution that had grave implications for journalists and press freedom worldwide,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “While we welcome the…

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Oaxaca police

CPJ welcomes public apology to family of killed Mexican reporter Gustavo Sánchez

Mexico City, June 18, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the public apology issued by the government of the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca and the federal government to the family of journalist Gustavo Sánchez Cabrera, three years after he was murdered. With the apology, issued on Monday in Oaxaca’s state capital of Oaxaca de…

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Drug-related violence fuels an exodus of Ecuador’s press

On the only radio station in the remote Ecuadorian town of Baeza, morning show host Juan Carlos Tito updates listeners on the weather, recent power outages, and repairs to a bridge spanning a nearby river. For the last 24 years, Tito, 53, has been the trusted voice of Radio Selva, broadcasting important community news to…

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Former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, seen here in 2020, sued the publication Mississippi Today for defamation based on its Pulitzer Prize-winning report on a welfare scandal that implicated the governor. Mississippi Today has appealed a court decison asking it to turn over privileged information. (Photo: AP/Rogelio V. Solis)

Pulitzer-winning Mississippi Today appeals order to turn over confidential source material

Washington, D.C., June 11, 2024—A county judge’s order to Mississippi Today newspaper to turn over privileged documents in relation to a defamation lawsuit by the state’s former governor, Phil Bryant, against the nonprofit and three of its employees is a threat to press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Mississippi Today appealed on…

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CPJ joins letter calling for US Senate to push forward on PRESS Act

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined over 50 news and press freedom organizations in urging United States senators to support the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act (PRESS Act). The bill would create a federal shield safeguarding reporter-source confidentiality and prevent government access to unreported source material.  The letter, authored by the Reporters Committee for…

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Journalist Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca left Cuba for exile in the United States on June 5 after serving nearly three years in prison. (Photo: Noticias Cubanet Cuba/YouTube)

Cuban journalist Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca released, forced into exile

Miami, June 6, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Cuban journalist Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca, but is deeply concerned he was forced into exile, and calls on Cuban authorities to allow reporters to work freely in the country without fear of reprisal.  Valle left Cuba for the United States on Wednesday, June…

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Haitian judiciary appoints new judge in the murder case of journalist Garry Tesse

Miami, June 3, 2024– The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Haiti’s Superior Council of the Judiciary, the country’s judiciary oversight body, to provide judge Jean Michelet Séide with the necessary resources and protections to conclude his investigation into the October 2022 murder of radio journalist Garry Tesse.  Last month, the council appointed Séide to take over the case…

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Uruguay's Senate

Broadcast bill passed by Uruguay Senate threatens press freedom

Mexico City, May 30, 2024—Uruguayan authorities should not approve a proposed broadcast law passed by the Senate and should ensure that all media legislation is discussed broadly, including with civil society organizations and journalist representatives, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On May 14, the Uruguayan Senate approved the proposed “Law of Audiovisual Content…

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CPJ, partners join call for U.S. Senate to advance PRESS Act

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined more than 85 journalism and civil society organizations and 35 attorneys and law professors in urging the Senate Judiciary Committee to schedule a markup of the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act (PRESS Act) as soon as possible so that it can be considered by the full Senate…

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Luís Roberto Barroso, president of the Brazilian Supreme Court, listens to proceedings on May 22, when the court recognized the judicial harassment of journalists.

Brazil’s top court acts to protect journalists from judicial harassment

São Paulo, May 24, 2024—A decision by Brazil’s top court to recognize the judicial harassment of journalists and to introduce procedures to help prevent courts being misused to intimidate and silence the media is a welcome move towards safeguarding press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On May 22, the Supreme Court unanimously…

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