Polish court fines journalist Ewa Siedlecka for criminal defamation
Berlin, December 15, 2021 –Polish authorities should not contest journalist Ewa Siedlecka’s appeal of her criminal defamation conviction and should reform the country’s criminal defamation laws so they can no longer be used against journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On November 24, 2021, the District Court for Warsaw-Śródmieście convicted Siedlecka, a columnist…
Nine-year sentence for prominent journalist Pham Doan Trang reaffirms Vietnam’s ‘abysmal’ press freedom record
Bangkok, December 15, 2021 – Vietnamese authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Pham Doan Trang, and stop imprisoning independent news reporters for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In a one-day trial yesterday, Hanoi’s People’s Court sentenced Trang to nine years in prison under Article 117 of the penal code, a…
Togo journalists Ferdinand Ayité and Joël Egah detained over online broadcast
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…
Hungary’s Szabolcs Panyi on how Pegasus surveillance has hindered his reporting
It took five months for Hungary to acknowledge publicly that it had bought the Pegasus spyware allegedly used to hack the phones of hundreds around the world. In November, Lajos Kósa, a top official from Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party, acknowledged the purchase in a media interview after a parliamentary meeting; Minister of the Interior Sándor…
Peruvian journalist receives threatening messages, demands to stop reporting on local officials
Bogotá, December 9, 2021 – Peruvian authorities must thoroughly investigate death threats against journalist Jairo Roque Gómez and hold the perpetrators to account, and local officials should refrain from using the country’s outdated defamation laws to threaten reporters, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On December 1, Roque, editor of the independent Diario Hechicera…
Ukrainian investigative journalist Pavlo Biletskiy’s cars destroyed in alleged arson attack
Vilnius, Lithuania, December 9, 2021 — Ukrainian authorities should thoroughly investigate the alleged arson attack on investigative journalist Pavlo Biletskiy and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In the early morning hours of December 5, unknown individuals burned two cars that belonged to Biletskiy, chief editor of independent news agency…
UK ruling on extraditing Wikileaks’ Assange ‘seriously damages journalism’
New York, December 10, 2021–The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed deep disappointment at a British court’s decision to uphold the United States Justice Department’s appeal to extradite Julian Assange, which allows the U.S. to continue pursuing the extradition of the WikiLeaks founder, according to news reports. “On the same day the Nobel Peace Prize…
‘A disturbing sign for press freedom’: A record 293 journalists imprisoned worldwide, the worst in 30 years
There are a record 293 journalists jailed worldwide for doing their job, according to CPJ’s 2021 prison census, the worst number CPJ has recorded since we began keeping track in 1992. Meanwhile, killings of journalists also continue to persist, with 24 documented by CPJ so far this year. The reasons for the relentless climb in…
Turkish President Erdoğan sues Greek and French outlets for alleged insults
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has filed lawsuits in Turkish courts against employees of the conservative Greek daily Dimokratia and the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Law, which criminalizes “insulting the president.” None of the defendants have appeared in Turkish courts, according to news reports. Erdoğan is suing…
