Turkish judge rules trial for journalists facing life sentences to be closed to public
Istanbul, March 25, 2016 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns an Istanbul court’s decision to bar the public from the trial of Can Dündar and Erdem Gül, journalists for the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet. Representatives from CPJ and other press freedom groups attended the first session of the trial today.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of March 20
Istanbul court rules trial for journalists facing life sentences to be closed to public The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned an Istanbul court’s decision today to bar the public from the trial of Can Dündar and Erdem Gül, journalists for the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet. Representatives from CPJ and other free-speech groups attended the first…
Authorities close Al-Baghdadia TV in Iraq, force staff out of channel’s offices
New York, March 18, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Iraqi authorities to restore the broadcasting license of the pro-Sunni satellite channel Al-Baghdadia TV, and to allow the channel to operate freely in Iraq.
Gado blames government pressure as cartoonist’s contract at Kenya’s Nation ends
For 23 years Godfrey Mwampembwa has been a prominent and quick-witted observer of the political scene in East Africa. But all that changed last month when the cartoonist, known as Gado, was told his contract at Kenya’s biggest newspapers, the Nation, would not be renewed.
Criminal Defamation Laws in The Caribbean
Contents Critics Are Not Criminals: Comparative Study of Criminal Defamation Laws in the Americas I. Antigua and Barbuda A. Criminal Laws Restricting Freedom of Expression Defamation remains a criminal offence in Antigua and Barbuda under the Libel and Slander Act, which dates to 1876 and was last updated in 1976. The Act, which governs both…
Criminal Defamation Laws in South America
Contents Critics Are Not Criminals: Comparative Study of Criminal Defamation Laws in the Americas I. Argentina A. Criminal Laws Restricting Freedom of Expression Argentina’s Law 26.551 of November 2009 amended articles 109 to 117 of the Criminal Code to eliminate criminal sanctions for libel and slander, replacing them with monetary penalties. 1. Libel Libel consists…
CPJ calls on Turkey to drop charges against Cumhuriyet journalists
Istanbul, February 26, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the conditional release today of Turkish journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül, of the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, and calls on authorities to drop all charges against them. The two, who spent 92 days in pre-trial detention, still face multiple life sentences if convicted of exposing state…
79 cases and counting: Legal challenges pile up for Daily Star editor who admitted error in judgment
When Mahfuz Anam, editor of one of Bangladesh’s most respected newspapers, admitted recently to a lapse in editorial judgment several years ago, he could not have predicted the legal backlash that would ensue. Anam’s admission that he published unsubstantiated information accusing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of corruption has led to a barrage of defamation and…
China, Egypt imprison record numbers of journalists
Egypt is second only to China as the world’s worst jailer of journalists in 2015. Worldwide, the number of journalists behind bars for their work declined moderately during the year, but a handful of countries continue to use systematic imprisonment to silence criticism. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser