New Uzbekistan laws ban using internet to ‘disrespect’ the government, organize protests
Stockholm, April 28, 2021 – Uzbek authorities should repeal recent legal amendments that deepen restrictions on online speech, and should ensure that journalists are free to report and comment on issues of public importance without fear of prosecution, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On March 31, new amendments to the country’s criminal code,…
Guinea journalist Amadou Diouldé Diallo detained in hospital over alleged insults to president
Dakar, March 24, 2021 — Guinean authorities should immediately release journalist Amadou Diouldé Diallo and ensure that the press can work without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On February 27, police officers arrested Diallo, a sports reporter with Guinea’s public broadcaster Radio Télévision Guinéenne (RTG) and a political commentator on…
Iranian journalist Nooshin Jafari begins 4-year jail term on propaganda and insult charges
New York, February 18, 2021 – Iranian authorities should immediately release Nooshin Jafari and stop imprisoning members of the press for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On February 16, police arrested Jafari at her home in Tehran and took her to the city’s Qarchak Prison to begin serving a four-year sentence,…
Uzbek parliament moves to criminalize ‘dissemination of false information’
New York, December 21, 2020 – Uzbek authorities should halt attempts to criminalize sharing allegedly false information and ensure that journalists can operate freely without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On December 15, deputies of the lower chamber of Uzbekistan’s parliament, the Oliy Majlis, approved amendments to the country’s criminal…
Sierra Leone journalist Mahmud Tim Kargbo charged over police reporting
Abuja, December 18, 2020 — Sierra Leone authorities should immediately drop all charges against journalist Mahmud Tim Kargbo and allow him to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On December 4, a magistrate court in the capital, Freetown, charged Kargbo with sharing “insulting” and “scurrilous” information via Facebook and WhatsApp about the…
Ecuadorian journalist Juán Sarmiento sentenced to prison for ‘discrediting’ local official
Bogotá, November 20, 2020 – Ecuadorian authorities should not contest journalist Juan Sarmiento’s appeal of a recent criminal conviction for critical comments about a local politician, and the country should remove speech laws from its penal code, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On November 12, the Justice Court of Napo, in central Ecuador,…
Turkish journalist Oktay Candemir charged with ‘insulting’ deceased sultan in satirical tweet
Istanbul, September 8, 2020 – Turkish authorities should immediately return the confiscated property of journalist Oktay Candemir and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, police in the eastern city of Van arrested Candemir, a freelance journalist who writes columns for the pro-Kurdish news website Nupel, at his home,…
Freelance reporter charged with insulting Zimbabwe’s president
On June 29, 2020, Godfrey Mtimba, a freelance journalist in Zimbabwe’s southern town of Masvingo, was charged with insulting and undermining the authority of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the journalist and his lawyer, Phillip Shumba, told CPJ via messaging app. Mtimba was charged under Section 33 (2) (a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act,…
Kazakhstan decriminalizes defamation, but maintains detentions, criminal penalties for speech offenses
New York, July 8, 2020 — Kazakhstan authorities should deepen their reforms on laws affecting the press and ensure that journalists are never jailed for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 27, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed into law amendments to the country’s criminal and administrative codes that decriminalized defamation, according…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of June 23, 2019
‘Insult’ trial for Free Journalists Initiative spokesperson Hakkı Boltan, a spokesperson for the Free Journalists Initiative (ÖGİ), is due to stand trial in Diyarbakır on charges of “insulting the president” and “insulting a public servant because of their duty,” the news website Gazete Karınca reported. The charges are related to Boltan’s public statements about President…