Iceland police investigate 4 journalists for alleged privacy breach in Samherji fishing company reporting
Berlin, March 25, 2022 — Iceland authorities must ensure that journalists are not subject to police investigations as retaliation for their work, and should drop their criminal probe into journalists who recently covered the Samherji fishing company, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. In November 2019, Iceland’s public broadcaster Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV), the privately owned…
Cameroon journalist Malcolm Barnabé Paho detained for 2 days, prosecuted for defamation
Dakar, March 23, 2022 — Cameroonian authorities should drop the prosecution of journalist Malcom Bernabé Paho and decriminalize journalism in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On February 22, the national gendarmerie arrested Paho, director of the newspaper Midi Libre Hebdo; opened a criminal defamation case against him; and detained him for…
Russian government expands law banning ‘fakes’
New York, March 22, 2022 – In response to the newly proposed legislation penalizing the distribution of “fakes” concerning the Russian government’s activities abroad, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “Russian legislators and President Vladimir Putin should drop new amendments banning so-called ‘fakes’ and allow free reporting about the war in Ukraine,”…
Opinion: Putin tolerated some critical voices in his 22-year assault on Russian media. His war in Ukraine ends even that.
On the morning after Boris Yeltsin stunned the world by resigning and turning over the Russian presidency to Vladimir Putin, The New York Times published a “man in the news” column that struggled to define the new leader. Putin was a man who “would never deceive you,” promised his political mentor and former St. Petersburg…
Nigerian journalist Agba Jalingo acquitted of all charges 30 months after arrest
New York, March 21, 2022 — In response to news reports that a federal court on Monday acquitted Nigerian journalist Agba Jalingo on all charges, including anti-state and defamation, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “Today’s acquittal of journalist Agba Jalingo on trumped-up charges is welcome, but he should never have been…
Mali suspends RFI and France 24, bars local outlets from distributing their content
New York, March 18, 2022 — Malian authorities should reverse the suspension of French broadcasters Radio France Internationale (RFI) and France 24, and swiftly implement accreditation processes that ensure journalists are not barred from working in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Wednesday, March 16, Mali’s Ministry of Territorial Administration and…
2 Ugandan journalists charged with cyberstalking the president, remanded to prison
Nairobi, March 17, 2022—Ugandan authorities should unconditionally release Alternative Digitalk television journalists Norman Tumuhimbise and Faridah Bikobere, drop any pending investigations against seven other journalists from the online media outlet, and rigorously investigate allegations that at least two of these journalists suffered serious physical abuse while in the custody of security personnel, the Committee to…
Angolan journalists questioned in criminal defamation complaint over gun trafficking report
Two reporters, José Kalembe and Diamantino Sangueve from the Catholic Church-run Radio Ecclésia Huambo, and its director, Father Alberto Java, were questioned by Angolan police on January 6 and 26 as part of a criminal defamation and insult complaint following a report about a local police commandant’s alleged dealings in arms trafficking, according to the…
Zimbabwe court declines to dismiss case against NY Times freelancer Jeffrey Moyo in immigration case
New York, March 15, 2022 – In response to news reports that a court in Zimbabwe on Tuesday declined to dismiss the 2021 immigration case against New York Times freelance correspondent Jeffrey Moyo, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement expressing disappointment: “We are disappointed that more than nine months after his arrest,…
Calling the war ‘war’: Meduza’s Galina Timchenko bucks Russia’s censorship on Ukraine
The Kremlin was infuriated by editor Galina Timchenko’s coverage of Russia’s incursion into Ukraine. So it pressured her boss to fire her. Timchenko left Moscow with much of the staff from her popular website, moving to Riga, Latvia, where they could work free of Kremlin censorship. That may sound like today’s news, but it actually…