Criminal Defamation Archives - Page 11 of 14 - Committee to Protect Journalists

Bangladeshi journalists cover proceedings outside a Dhaka court in May 2016. The country's vaguely worded defamation law is creating a climate of self censorship, local reporters say. (AP/A.M. Ahad)

Bangladesh’s defamation law is ‘avenue to misuse power,’ local journalists say

December 8, 2017 1:07 PM EST

It started with a Facebook post about a goat and ended in a day in jail for Bangladeshi journalist Abdul Latif Morol, when a fellow journalist filed a defamation complaint against him.

An Indian flag is painted on a woman's face during rehearsals for India's Independence Day celebrations in Ahmedabad. A court in the city issued an injunction against the news website The Wire. (Reuters/Amit Dave)

Indian court bars The Wire from publishing stories on businessman Jay Shah

October 24, 2017 4:30 PM EDT

New Delhi, October 24, 2017– The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned a decision by India’s judiciary to proceed with a criminal defamation complaint against The Wire and issue an injunction preventing the news website from reporting about Jay Shah, the son of the ruling BJP party’s president Amit Shah, while the defamation case is…

Supporters donate money to Maldives broadcaster Raajje TV, which has been subject to large fines for alleged defamation in relation to its critical reporting. (Raajje TV/Mohamed Sharuhaan)

Maldives repeatedly slaps Raajje TV with huge fines under defamation law

October 24, 2017 4:00 PM EDT

One of the largest TV stations in the Maldives, Raajje TV, says authorities are using newly recriminalized defamation law to try to shut it down by levying exorbitant fines.

A general view of Hargeisa in May 2016. A court in the city sentenced a Somaliland journalist to 18 months in prison. (AFP/Mohamed Abdiwahab)

Somaliland court jails journalist for 18 months

October 10, 2017 4:20 PM EDT

Nairobi, October 10, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the conviction and sentencing of Somaliland journalist Mohamed Adan Dirir during a one-day trial held without the journalist’s lawyer.

Zimbabwean First Lady Grace Mugabe addresses party supporters in Gweru, Zimbabwe, on September 1. Police detained a journalist, Kenneth Nyangani, for reporting that Mugabe allegedly donated used underwear and women's nightgowns to ruling party supporters. (AP/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Zimbabwe arrests NewsDay journalist over story on first lady’s underwear donation

October 3, 2017 12:59 PM EDT

New York, October 3, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Zimbabwean authorities to immediately release NewsDay journalist Kenneth Nyangani and drop all charges against him. Nyangani was arrested yesterday and charged with criminal nuisance for reporting that First Lady Grace Mugabe had donated used underwear to supporters of the country’s ruling ZANU-PF party,…

CPJ urges President Macron to champion the protection of journalists in France and around the world

September 20, 2017 11:52 AM EDT

CPJ calls on President Macron of France to continue to champion the protection of journalists and press freedom at home and around the world.

French journalists Elise Lucet, right, and Laurent Richard answer reporters' questions outside a courtroom in a Paris suburb on September 5. Azerbaijan's government brought criminal defamation charges against the two journalists for calling the country a "dictatorship." (AP/Francois Mori)

Journalists on trial in France after calling Azerbaijan a dictatorship

September 7, 2017 3:58 PM EDT

New York, September 7, 2017–The French justice ministry should dismiss criminal defamation charges the government of Azerbaijan brought against journalists Elise Lucet and Laurent Richard, and allow the pair to continue their work without obstruction, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

In Brazil, outdated defamation laws and costly court cases used to pressure critics

April 6, 2017 11:28 AM EDT

Brazilian journalist Erik Silva never imagined that printing information from a municipal government website would see him accused of defamation and lead to a drawn-out court case. But almost a year after writing about the size of salary earned by a municipal accountant in Corumbá, a city of just under 100,000 people on Brazil’s western…

CPJ calls on Pakistan to free two journalists convicted of defamation

January 18, 2017 5:02 PM EST

Washington D.C., January 18, 2017–Pakistan should immediately release Ikhlaque Ahmed Jokhio and Qurban Ali Gadehi, two reporters for the Sindhi-language weekly Saahiti Awaz who were sentenced to five years in prison for criminal defamation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Dutch journalist Okke Ornstein, pictured in a prison compound in Panama, was jailed for criminal defamation. (CPJ/Jan-Albert Hootsen)

Dutch journalist Okke Ornstein due to be freed from Panama prison

December 20, 2016 3:39 PM EST

New York, December 20, 2016–Dutch journalist Okke Ornstein is due to be released unconditionally from a Panamanian prison by December 23, his lawyer Manuel Succari told CPJ today. The journalist was named in a list published by the government today of people whose sentences were reduced as part of a presidential pardon. Ornstein was arrested…