Criminal Libel

New York, September 22, 2020 — Peruvian authorities must stop the campaign of legal harassment against journalist Paola Ugaz and take steps to reform the country’s criminal defamation laws, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, the Ninth Criminal Court of Lima held the first hearing in a criminal defamation trial for Ugaz, an…

New York, June 26, 2020 – In response to yesterday’s enactment of a new penal code in Honduras that maintains criminal penalties for so-called “crimes against honor,” including insult and slander, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “Honduran lawmakers and President Juan Orlando Hernández had plenty of time to do the right…

New York, October 18, 2019 – Kazakhstan authorities should immediately release journalist Amangeldy Batyrbekov, drop all charges against him, and allow him to work freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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, July 25, 2019 — Philippine authorities should drop pending cyber libel charges against Rappler editor Maria Ressa and cease their legal harassment campaign against her, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, April 11, 2019 — Belarusian authorities should immediately drop their criminal slander investigation of independent online television station Belsat and allow the broadcaster’s reporters and staff to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On February 20, 2019, Jaroslaw Kaczyński, the leader of Poland’s ruling PiS party, filed a criminal libel complaint at the Warsaw public prosecutor’s office against Wojciech Czuchnowski and Iwona Szpala, investigative journalists at the country’s biggest independent daily newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza, according to their employer.

New York, February 14, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Gambian government to act on a judgment passed today by the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to immediately repeal its laws on criminal libel, sedition, and false news.