Criminal Defamation

Miami, September 3, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today welcomed an announcement by the Honduran National Congress that the country will decriminalize defamation and slander.

Bangkok, August 29, 2019 – The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned a decision by Myanmar’s Mandalay District Court to hear an appeal that could reopen a criminal defamation lawsuit against editor Swe Win.

Abidjan, June 20, 2019 — Cameroonian authorities should immediately release journalist Paul Chouta and drop criminal defamation and false news charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Nairobi, June 14, 2019 — Authorities in Uganda should end the criminal proceedings against Pidson Kareire, managing editor of privately owned news website The Drone Media, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On May 26, 2019, Bengaluru police opened a criminal investigation into Vishweshwar Bhat, the editor-in-chief of privately owned Kannada-language newspaper Vishwavani, after a complaint was filed against him by a member of the state’s ruling Janata Dal (Secular) party, according to Indian news portal The News Minute.

Berlin, June 4, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the conviction and sentence of journalist Anna Wilk in a criminal libel lawsuit in which she was sentenced on first instance for a fine and a three-year ban on practicing journalism.

Journalists across India are at risk of physical and digital attack in retaliation for their reporting. And during election campaigns, these dangers can increase. As the country went to the polls in recent weeks, CPJ’s India correspondent Kunal Majumder traveled to Guwahati, Imphal, Agartala, Raipur, Bijapur, and Hyderabad to present CPJ’s election safety kit to…

Bogotá, Colombia, April 29, 2019– A Peruvian court has ordered assets belonging to the independent news website Ojo Público, its executive director Óscar Castilla, and La República investigative reporter Edmundo Cruz, to be frozen while a criminal defamation complaint against them is heard, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on…

Bangkok, April 25, 2019 — Myanmar’s military should drop its criminal defamation case against independent news outlet The Irrawaddy over its coverage of the conflict in the country’s Rakhine state, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Berlin, April 17, 2019 — Finnish authorities should drop criminal defamation charges against investigative journalist Johanna Vehkoo on appeal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.