Legal Action

Taipei, February 28, 2020–Authorities in Hong Kong should drop legal charges against Jimmy Lai, founder of Next Media, and stop harassing journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Laws and Rights Awareness Initiative, a Nigerian nongovernmental organization, filed a lawsuit on February 25 against the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) over regulations granting warrantless access to telecom subscribers’ information, including “call data.” The suit claims that accessing the information “violates and will likely further violate” Nigerians’ constitutional right to privacy, according to a copy…

Miami, February 24, 2020 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today welcomed the decision by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to hear the case of Ecuadorian newspaper El Universo against a criminal defamation suit filed by former President Rafael Correa.

New York, February 24, 2020 — Kyrgyzstan authorities should not contest the appeal of journalist and human rights defender Azimjon Askarov and should release him immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Washington, D.C., February 21, 2020 — The United Kingdom should not extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face espionage charges in the United States, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Elections are always problematic for journalists in Iran, as the government attempts to threaten the press into silence. The parliamentary elections on February 21 are no exception.

On the morning of February 1, instead of working on her usual assignments for the Imphal Free Press, journalist Babie Shirin drove with the newspaper’s publisher Mayengbam Satyajit Singh to a court on the other side of town. On arrival, they were arrested, then granted bail on a bond of 30,000 rupees (US$420) each. Their…

Bogotá, February 19, 2020 — Colombian authorities should drop their arrest warrant against journalist Edison Lucio Torres and allow him to report freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, February 18, 2020 — Authorities in Cameroon should immediately release journalist Martinez Zogo, drop all charges against him, and reform the country’s penal code to decriminalize defamation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Washington, D.C., February 14, 2020 — The New York Police Department should not use anti-terror laws in an attempt to access journalists’ data, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.