2005-2014

The European Federation of Journalists has condemned a gun attack and death threat to the Turkish Cypriot newspaper Africa and its editor Sener Levent on Friday evening. The attack shocked the island’s media community and prompted trade unions and journalists’ groups in both Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities to join together to vigorously protest over this latest act of intimidation against...

ARTICLE 19 has welcomed the decriminalisation of defamation in Mexico's Puebla state, following the adoption of reforms to the local Criminal Code. At the same time, the recent reform could be further improved by introducing a civil defamation regulation adjusted to international standards including the presence of actual malice and ensure that those sued for defamation are able to mount a proper...

There are many shortcomings in the recent amendments to the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan related to defamation and insult. The Kazakh authorities have failed to fulfill their pledges to improve the legal framework for media and protect the right to freedom of expression as made prior and during its chairmanship of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), according to ARTICLE...

Events and controversies related to Islam dominated US press coverage of religion in 2010, bumping the Catholic Church from the top spot, according to a new study by the Pew Research Centre’s Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Much of the coverage focused on the plan to build a mosque and Islamic centre near ground zero in New York City, a Florida...

Owners of independent Tajik newspapers are complaining that a new ban on selling newspapers on the streets of Dushanbe is hurting sales, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. Zafar Sufi, the owner and chief editor of the weekly newspaper Ozodagon, told RFE/RL on February 23 that most people buy newspapers on their way to work or when they walk in the city center, and the ban curbs those purchases. The...

ARTICLE 19 has welcomed the High Court decision Thursday to dismiss the defamation claim brought by the Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash against the Kyiv Post, an independent Ukrainian newspaper. Firtash complained about an article published in the Kyiv Post in which the outcome of an international arbitrage concerning a dispute between RosUKrEnergo, of which Firtash is a major shareholder...

Cameroon's government is obstructing journalists from reporting on issues of public interest. Security forces detained a journalist without charge for six days after he interviewed a jailed former official. They also seized footage from reporters covering the brutal repression of a banned opposition march on Wednesday, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. Late on Wednesday...

The Committee to protect Journalists documented additional attacks Friday in Iraq, Yemen, and Libya as journalists tried to cover anti-government protests. Iraqi authorities cracked down on media: Security forces stormed a satellite TV office, detained dozens of journalists, and confiscated equipment, according to local journalists and news reports. In Yemen, at least four journalists were...

The International Federation (IFJ) has called for media reforms and respect of press freedom as journalists have come under fire over coverage of anti-governments protests sweeping through the Arab world and the Middle East. The call follows reports of bans on free movement of journalists and new attacks on media in Bahrain, Yemen, Libya and Iraq Kurdistan. The authorities have imposed a media...

Some local courts in Brazil are permitting the use of multiple lawsuits and other abusive judicial procedures to censor journalists, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). Carlos Santos, a freelance journalist and blogger based in Mossoró, a town in the northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte, was ordered this month to pay 6,000 reais (2,600 euros) to...