CPJ condemns Cuba’s new penal code as a threat to independent media
Miami, May 16, 2022 – In response to news reports that on Sunday, May 15, the Cuban National Assembly passed an amendment to the penal code that could severely damage independent journalism, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement expressing alarm: “We are alarmed by the passage of Cuba’s new penal code, which further criminalizes the…
Suriname journalist detained, investigated on defamation charges after reporting on police
Miami, May 9, 2022 – Surinamese authorities should stop detaining and charging journalists for their work and scrap the country’s criminal defamation laws, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On May 3, journalist Mones Nazarali turned himself in at the police headquarters in the city of Nieuw Nickerie, in Suriname’s Nickerie district, after being…
How China is stepping up harassment of foreign correspondents
When international journalists rushed to Zhengzhou city in Henan province to cover a deadly flood in July 2021, they were confronted by angry bystanders who accused them of “spreading rumors” and “smearing China.” Many also received harassing messages on social media and intimidating calls, according to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China. This hostility spread after the Henan Communist Youth…
‘Red-tagging’ of journalists looms over Philippine elections
As Philippine presidential candidates wind up their campaigns before the May 9 election, journalists in the country are demanding that whoever succeeds President Rodrigo Duterte put an end to “red tagging” – the labeling of individuals as rebels or supporters of the communist insurgency – that helped put their colleague Frenchiemae Cumpio behind bars. Cumpio, the 23-year-old executive director…
Congolese journalist Sébastien Mulamba charged with weapons possession, criminal association, armed robbery after critical radio commentary
Dakar, April 28, 2022 — Congolese authorities should drop their prosecution of journalist Sébastien Mulamba, stop harassing him, and investigate the raid on his home, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. At around 3 a.m. on April 21, police arrested Mulamba, a journalist and director of the privately owned Kisangani News, at his home…
Peruvian President Castillo threatens 2 journalists with criminal defamation suit
On April 12, 2022, Peruvian President Pedro Castillo sent a notarized letter to Rosana Cueva, editor and host of the independent TV news magazine “Panorama,” and to José Ignacio Beteta, editor of the independent news website Vigilante, demanding a retraction of recent reporting, according to reports and Cueva, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app….
‘A never-ending nightmare’: A son’s decade-long fight for justice for murdered Brazilian sports journalist Valério Luiz de Oliveira
On July 5, 2012, Valério Luiz de Oliveira Filho was at home waiting for his father to arrive for lunch when he received a phone call from his stepmother. “Go to the broadcaster,” she told him through tears, he said. “Your father has been shot.” His father, Valério Luiz de Oliveira, a well-known sports journalist…
CPJ welcomes European Union’s anti-SLAPP initiative
Brussels, April 27, 2022 – The Committee to Protect Journalists on Wednesday welcomed the European Commission’s move to pass an initiative seeking to address the abuse of SLAPP lawsuits in Europe. SLAPPs (strategic lawsuits against public participation) are abusive lawsuits filed by powerful officials, businesspeople, or corporations against individuals, including critical journalists or news outlets,…
Iraqi Kurdish journalist Omed Baroshky: Press freedom ‘an illusion’ in the region
Freelance journalist Omed Baroshky spent 18 months in jail over social media posts that were critical of the authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan. One of four Iraqi Kurdish reporters listed in CPJ’s 2021 prison census, his incarceration marked yet another low point for a region that has seen a sharp deterioration in the environment for the…
Siberian news outlets, management charged with disseminating ‘fakes’ about Russian army
Paris, April 14, 2022 — Russian authorities should immediately drop all charges against the management of Listok newspaper and Novy Fokus magazine’s chief editor Mikhail Afanasyev, and allow the press to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Wednesday, April 13, law enforcement in Gorno-Altaysk, the capital of Altai republic in southern…