The cost of legal fees in defamation cases should be controlled, the British government has announced, according to BBC. The proposals for England and Wales follow claims that high fees are having an effect on freedom of expression. Newspaper lawyers have said that some stories are simply ignored—to avoid the possible expense of a libel case. Justice Minister Bridget Prentice expressed concern...
A Dakar appeal court has upheld the three-year jail sentence passed on El Malick Seck, the editor of the Dakar-based daily 24 Heures Chrono, on September 12 last year for a vaguely-sourced report claiming the president and his son Karim were involved in money laundering in Côte d’Ivoire. Arrested on August 28, Seck was convicted of “disseminating false news.” The sentence was upheld on February 23...
Australian writer Harry Nicolaides has flown back home from Thailand after being granted a royal pardon on February 19. Press freedom groups have called upon authorities to reform the draconian lese majeste laws under which he was sentenced. On his arrival at Melbourne airport on February 21, a moved Nicolaides thanked his fellow Australians for their support during the more than five months in...
A journalist who went to interview the minister of the Ministry of National Security (MNB) in Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic on February 20 was blindfolded and interrogated for hours, according to local news reports. The Committee to Project Journalists (CPJ) has called for an immediate investigation into the incident by the central Azerbaijani government. Security service agents...
Agents of Administrative Department of Security (DAS), the national intelligence service of Colombia, had spied on critical reporters, Supreme Court judges, opposition politicians, and officials in President Alvaro Uribe's administration, leading newsweekly Semana has reported. Citing five unnamed DAS agents, the magazine said that rogue intelligence officials had monitored and intercepted...
An official in Swaziland has apologised for summarily dismissing a female reporter from Parliament nearly two weeks ago. It was the latest in a controversy sparked by allegations of gender discrimination against Mantoe Phakathi, an award-winning journalist with the private monthly, the Nation, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported on its blog. "As a former media practitioner...
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has condemned amendments to the UK Counter Terrorism Act, which came into force in the UK on February 16. The amendments contain powers of arrest and imprisonment of anyone who takes pictures of police officers or other public servants which are "likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism." "This is a serious setback for...
China's decision to establish a list of reporters who break reporting rules and prevent them from continuing to report or edit news is a cause for concern, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said. The decision to create a blacklist was reported in an article on the website of the official China Press and Publishing Journal. The journal's report, titled "Strengthen oversight and service...
The Tanzanian minister of information, sports and culture has ordered three newspapers to provide reasons why they published what he calls "defamatory" news reports. The newspapers in question are Taifa Letu, Sema Usikize and Taifa Tanzania. The minister on February 13 accused the three newspapers of writing defamatory reports against three prominent figures, namely Reginald Mengi, the executive...
Two journalists, the daily Milliyet's Gokcer Tahincioglu and Vatan newspaper's Kemal Goktas, are on trial in Turkey over allegations related to articles revealing the unlawful authorization of security forces, police, the gendarmerie and the national intelligence service to monitor all electronic communication between citizens. Tahincioglu and Goktas are accused of "acquiring classified...
