A global alliance of civil society organisations has protested to Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr in an open letter over the “judicial harassment” of human rights defenders and the designation of five indigenous rights activists as “terrorists“.

CIVICUS, representing some 15,000 members in 75 countries, says the harassment is putting the defenders “at great risk”.

It has also condemned the “draconian” Republic Act No. 11479 — the Anti-Terrorism Act — for its “weaponisation’ against political dissent and human rights work and advocacy in the Philippines.

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• Other Philippine human rights reports

The CIVICUS open letter said there were “dire implications on the rights to due process and against warrantless arrests, among others”.

The letter called on the Philippine authorities to:

• Immediately end the judicial harassment against 10 human rights defenders by withdrawing the petition in the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 84;
• Repeal Resolution No. 35 (2022) designating the six human rights defenders as terrorist individuals and unfreeze their property and funds immediately and unconditionally;
• Drop all charges under the ATA against activists in the Southern Tagalog region; and
• Halt all forms of intimidation and attacks on human rights defenders, ensure an enabling environment for human rights defenders and enact a law for their protection.

The full letter states:

President of the Republic of the Philippines
Malacañang Palace Compound
P. Laurel St., San Miguel, Manila
The Philippines.

Dear President Marcos, Jr.,

Philippines: Halt harassment against human rights defenders

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation is a global alliance of civil society organisations (CSOs) and activists dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society worldwide. Founded in 1993, CIVICUS has over 15,000 members in 175 countries.

We are writing to you regarding a number of cases where human rights defenders are facing judicial harassment or have been designated as terrorists, putting them at great risk.

Judicial harassment against previously acquitted human rights defenders
CIVICUS is concerned about renewed judicial harassment against ten human rights defenders that had been previously acquitted for perjury. In March 2023, a petition was filed by prosecutors from the Quezon City Office of the Prosecutor, with General Esperon and current NSA General Eduardo Ano seeking a review of a lower court’s decision against the ten human rights defenders. They include Karapatan National Council members Elisa Tita Lubi, Cristina Palabay, Roneo Clamor, Gabriela Krista Dalena, Dr. Edita Burgos, Jose Mari Callueng and Fr. Wilfredo Ruazol as well as Joan May Salvador and Gertrudes Libang of GABRIELA and Sr Elenita Belardo of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP).

The petition also includes the judge that presided over the case Judge Aimee Marie B. Alcera. They alleged that Judge Alcera committed “grave abuse of discretion” in acquitting the defenders. The petition is now pending before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 84 Presiding Judge Luisito Galvez Cortez, who has asked the respondents to comment on Esperon’s motion this July and has scheduled a hearing on 29 August 2023.

Human rights defenders designated as terrorists
CIVICUS is also concerned that on 7 June 2023, the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) signed Resolution No. 41 (2022) designating five indigenous peoples’ leaders and advocates – Sarah Abellon Alikes, Jennifer R. Awingan, Windel Bolinget, Stephen Tauli, and May Casilao – as terrorist individuals. The resolution also freezes their property and funds, including related accounts.

The four indigenous peoples’ human rights defenders – Alikes, Awingan, Bolinget and Tauli — are leaders of the Cordillera People’s Alliance (CPA). May Casilao has been active in Panalipdan! Mindanao (Defend Mindanao), a Mindanao-wide interfaith network of various sectoral organizations and individuals focused on providing education on, and conducting campaigns against, threats to the environment and people of the island, especially the Lumad. Previously, on 7 December 2022, the ATC signed Resolution No. 35 (2022) designating indigenous peoples’ rights defender Ma. Natividad “Doc Naty” Castro, former National Council member of Karapatan and a community-based health worker, as a “terrorist individual.”

The arbitrary and baseless designation of these human rights defenders highlights the concerns of human rights organizations against Republic Act No. 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism Act, particularly on the weaponization of the draconian law against political dissent and human rights work and advocacy in the Philippines and the dire implications on the rights to due process and against warrantless arrests, among others.

Anti-terrorism law deployed against activists in the Southern Tagalog region
We are also concerned about reports that the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) has been deployed to suppress and persecute human rights defenders in the Southern Tagalog region, which has the most number of human rights defenders and other political activists criminalised by this law. As of July 2023, up to 13 human rights defenders from Southern Tagalog face trumped-up criminal complaints citing violations under the ATA. Among those targeted include Rev. Glofie Baluntong, Hailey Pecayo, Kenneth Rementilla and Jasmin Rubio.

International human rights obligations
The Philippines government has made repeated assurances to other states that it will protect human rights defenders including most recently during its Universal Periodic Review in November 2022. However, the cases above highlight that an ongoing and unchanging pattern of the government targeting human rights defenders.

These actions are also inconsistent with Philippines’ international human rights obligations, including those under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which Philippines ratified in 1986. These include obligations to respect and protect fundamental freedoms which are also guaranteed in the Philippines Constitution. The Philippines government also has an obligation to protect human rights defenders as provided for in the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and to prevent any reprisals against them for their activism.

Therefore, we call on the Philippines authorities to:

• Immediately end the judicial harassment against the ten human rights defenders by withdrawing the petition in the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 84;
• Repeal Resolution No. 35 (2022) designating the six human rights defenders as terrorist individuals and unfreeze their property and funds immediately and unconditionally;Drop all charges under the ATA against activists in the Southern Tagalog region;
• Halt all forms of intimidation and attacks on human rights defenders, ensure an enabling environment for human rights defenders and enact a law for their protection.

We urge your government to look into these concerns as a matter of priority and we hope to hear from you regarding our inquiries as soon as possible.

Regards,

Sincerely,

David Kode
Advocacy & Campaigns Lead
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation

Cc: Eduardo Año, National Security Adviser and Director General of the National Security Council
Jesus Crispin C. Remulla, Secretary, Department of Justice of the Philippines
Atty. Richard Palpal-latoc, Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

On Wednesday, March 15, the outlet suspended its operations indefinitely, according to media reports and the outlet’s owner, David Boio, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app.

Boio told CPJ that the decision to shutter Camunda News, which covered current affairs on its website, Facebook page, and YouTube channel, came after months of government harassment.

“Angolan authorities must commit to the development of a free and independent media and refrain from harassing online outlets like Camunda News,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator. “Instead of censorship through intimidation and archaic licensing requirements, the government should encourage a plurality of media to fulfill the public’s right to access information.”

In October 2022, officials with the police National Criminal Investigation Service, the SIC, questioned Boio about Nelson Demba, an activist and co-host of the weekly current affairs show 360˚ aired on Camunda News’ YouTube and Facebook channels, Boio told CPJ.

Demba is facing charges including incitement to rebellion and outrage against the president, and is presently in hiding, according to reports, which said he believes the charges against him are retaliation for his political activity.

Boio told CPJ that SIC officers had also summoned Camunda News senior reporter llídio Manuel and two other staff members in October. He declined to name those staffers for fear of their safety.

Subsequently, in February 2023, SIC officers called Boio to summon him for questioning as a potential state witness in Demba’s case, according to Boio and those news reports. In that phone call, an investigator warned Boio that an arrest warrant would be issued if he failed to appear and instructed him to bring company documents related to Camunda News.

During three hours of questioning on March 7, Boio told CPJ that he was only asked one question about Demba and that most of the questions were related to Camunda News, its legal status and funding, and his personal life.

Shortly after that questioning, Boio suspended Camunda News’ current affairs video content. On Wednesday, he suspended the entire platform, he said.

“The harassment and intimidation are getting to a point where it could lead to more serious problems, and we know how the system in Angola can be complicated and make up serious accusations, so I need to consider my safety as well as that of all others working at Camunda,” Boio told CPJ.

Manuel, the senior reporter summoned in October, told CPJ that he was unable to hire a lawyer in time and did not attend the questioning, and had not received another summons. He said no details of the case had been disclosed to him.

Boio told CPJ that in May 2020 an SIC investigator had arrived at Camunda News’ offices and asked about its ownership, and the following day the broadcaster received a notification from the Ministry of Telecommunications Technologies and Media requesting the documentation to prove the outlet was operating legally.

“We wrote back to the Ministry explaining that we couldn’t find the legal framework for online content such as what we produced,” Boio told CPJ.

“If we had a license, we would probably be treated the same way the TV channels that got cancelled did, but because there is no legal framework they use SIC to intimidate us,” Boio said. Authorities suspended three TV broadcasters in 2021.

Benja Satula, a lawyer representing Camunda News, told CPJ via messaging app that there is no legal framework covering online content platforms, so there could be no illegal activity warranting a criminal investigation.

SIC spokesperson Manuel Alaiwa responded to CPJ’s requests for comment by phone and messaging app saying that he would call later. He had not responded by the time of publication.

When CPJ called Ministry of Telecommunications Technologies and Media spokesperson João Demba for comment, he said the ministry could not comment because it was awaiting information from the SIC.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

Both journalists have been summoned to the country’s High Court in the capital city of Lomé for a trial beginning on Wednesday, March 8, according to news reports, court documents reviewed by CPJ, and the journalists’ lawyer Elom Kpade, who spoke to CPJ by phone.

Authorities allege that Ayité, publication director of the privately owned L’Alternative newspaper, insulted public authorities in the outlet’s reporting, and that Kouwonou, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, assisted in that alleged offense.

The court documents cite sections of Togo’s penal code relating to criminal insult, punishable with up to two years in prison and a fine of 1 million West African francs (US$1,619); distributing false news, which carries up to two years and a fine of 2 million francs (US$3,238); and authoring false news, which carries up to three years and a fine of 3 million francs (US$4,858).

“Togolese authorities should immediately cease their legal harassment of journalists Ferdinand Ayité and Isidore Kouwonou and allow them to work freely,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator, in New York. “Journalistic commentary on issues of public interest should never be criminalized, and the summonses issued to these journalists should be scrapped at once.”

The case stems from an online broadcast by L’Alternative in late 2021, which Ayité and journalist Joel Egah discussed corruption allegations involving two government ministers and accusations that they had manipulated the public, according to those news reports. Egah died from a heart attack in March 2022.

In December 2021, police arrested Ayité and Egah over that broadcast; Kouwonou was also summoned by police that month.

The court documents allege that both Ayité and Kouwonou published and distributed “false news” on social media that was liable to “disrupt public peace.”

Section 172 of Togo’s press code says that offenses involving journalists should be handled by the communication regulator, but Section 156 says that journalists who “used social networks as a means of communication” to commit such offenses are instead “punished in accordance with the common law provisions.”

CPJ called prosecutor Mawama Talaka for comment, but no one answered.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

Developed in collaboration with TrustLaw—the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s global pro bono service—this guide covers the legal rights journalists have in India. It provides guidance to equip journalists with a working understanding of the remedies and protection measures that are available under Indian law.

The guide and overview are also available in Hindi.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Jennifer Dunham.

This week, at least four members of the press are scheduled to appear in court because of their work, and another was recently charged but no court date was set. If convicted, they face heavy fines and prison terms, according to news reports and reports by the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), a local advocacy and trade group.

“This new round of trials shows how Belarusian authorities are constantly resorting to ludicrous pretexts to silence independent reporting in the country,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Authorities should immediately release all imprisoned journalists, drop the charges against them, and ensure that members of the media can work freely and without fear of reprisal.”

Journalists who face upcoming court hearings include:

Yury Hantsarevich, a correspondent for the independent news website Intex-Press, is facing charges of “facilitating extremist activities” and is due to appear in a court in the southwestern city of Brest on Wednesday, according to BAJ.

Hantsarevich was detained in May after he reported on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions imposed on Russia. If convicted, he faces up to six years in prison under the Belarusian criminal code.

Aleh Hruzdzilovich, a freelance journalist and former correspondent for the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster RFE/RL’s Belarusian service Radio Svaboda, is facing three civil suits over allegedly blocking traffic at protests he covered in 2020, according to Radio Svaboda.

If convicted, he faces a total fine of up to 56,000 Belarusian rubles (US$21,820); the three separate trials will be held in Minsk, the capital, beginning on July 15, July 22, and July 25, according to that report.

Hruzdzilovich is already serving an 18-month prison sentence after he was convicted on May 3 of participating in those protests, as CPJ documented at the time.

Katsiaryna Andreyeva, a correspondent with the Poland-based independent broadcaster Belsat TV, is due in court in the southeastern city of Homel on Wednesday to face treason charges, according to a Facebook post by her husband, Ihar Ilyash. Her trial started on July 4 but was suspended on July 6, Ilyash wrote.

If convicted, she could face up to 15 years in jail under the criminal code.

Andreyeva was detained in November 2020 while livestreaming protests against President Aleksandr Lukashenko’s continued rule, and is already serving a two-year prison sentence for organizing an illegal protest, as CPJ has documented.

Iryna Slaunikava, also a Belsat TV correspondent, is due in court in Homel on Thursday to face charges of “organizing or participating in gross violations of public order” and “creating an extremist group,” according to media reports. She has been detained since October 2021.

If convicted on the public order charge, she could face up to four years in prison; if convicted of creating an extremist group, she could face up to seven years. Her trial started on June 23 and was also suspended on July 6, according to those reports.

CPJ is also monitoring the case of Ksenia Lutskina, a former correspondent for the state broadcaster Belteleradio (BT), who has been detained since December 2020 and has been charged with “conspiracy to seize state power in an unconstitutional manner,” according to a July 7 statement by the Belarusian prosecutor general’s office.

If convicted, she could face up to 12 years in prison under the criminal code. CPJ was unable to immediately determine when she is scheduled to appear in court.

Separately, on June 29, the trials of three journalists with the independent Belarusian news agency BelaPAN, which began earlier that month, were suspended for “at least two months,” according to BAJ.

CPJ emailed the Belarusian Investigative Committee for comment, but did not receive any reply.

Belarusian authorities also recently sentenced Wikipedia editor Mark Bernstein to three years of restricted freedom for allegedly “organizing or participating in gross violations of public order” over his work editing articles about the Russian war in Ukraine, according to multiple news reports.

He was detained on March 11 and sentenced on June 24, according to those reports, which said he is allowed to live at his home and go to work, but must be home at prescribed hours and cannot leave the country or conduct certain activities.

Belarus was the fifth worst jailer of journalists in the world, with at least 19 journalists behind bars on December 1, 2021, when CPJ conducted its most recent prison census.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

Gendarme officers arrested Thiam, a reporter with the privately owned broadcaster 7TV, while he was on assignment at a court in Dakar, the capital, on April 14, according to media reports and 7TV Executive Director Maimouna Ndour Faye, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview.

Faye told CPJ that officers “severely” beat Thiam, and when she visited him at the local gendarme office he had swelling in his face and blood on his clothes. He was released on unconditional bail the following day, Faye said.

Thiam is scheduled to appear before a Dakar court on April 20 for alleged “contempt of an agent in the exercise of his duties,” according to Faye and those reports. If convicted, Thiam could face up to three months in prison and a maximum fine of 50,000 West African francs (US$83), according to the Senegalese penal code.

“Senegalese authorities should drop their prosecution of journalist Pape Malick Thiam and allow him to work free of harassment and intimidation,” said CPJ Sub-Saharan Africa Representative Muthoki Mumo, in Nairobi. “Thiam’s beating by authorities sends a chilling message that the press is not safe in Senegal. A thorough investigation should be carried out and those responsible should be held accountable.”

On April 14, Thiam was covering a hearing at a Dakar court when a gendarme officer stopped him, accused him of filming in a restricted area, and confiscated the journalist’s phone, Faye said. She told CPJ that Thiam protested the seizure, and the officer then accused Thiam of insulting him and beat the journalist until he lost consciousness.

Thiam regained consciousness later that day at the gendarme office, and his phone was returned upon his release, Faye said.

When CPJ called Lieutenant-Colonel Ibrhima Ndiaye, a spokesperson for the Senegalese gendarmerie, for comment and asked about Thiam’s case, he said he was busy and requested to be called back later in the day; when CPJ called back, he again declined to answer questions at that time.

When CPJ called Thiam for comment, he said his lawyer advised him not to speak about the case and that any questions should be directed to his employer.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

On Sunday, April 10, authorities in Jammu and Kashmir re-arrested Sultan, a journalist with the monthly magazine Kashmir Narrator, under the 1978 Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act days after he was granted bail in a separate case, according to various news reports and Sultan’s lawyer, Adil Pandit, who spoke to CPJ by phone.

The Public Safety Act allows for suspects to be held for up to two years in preventative detention without trial, according to those sources. Pandit told CPJ that the grounds for Sultan’s detention under the Public Safety Act were unclear, and he was expecting a copy of the detention order from an executive district magistrate soon.

“We urge police in Jammu and Kashmir to respect the decision of the judiciary, which has found no evidence to justify holding journalist Aasif Sultan in jail,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “Sultan should be released at once, having already spent over three and a half years in jail without being convicted of any crime, and authorities must cease weaponizing preventative detention and anti-terror laws against journalists to muzzle their work.”

Police arrested Sultan in August 2018 for allegedly harboring terrorists in violation of the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, shortly after he published an article about Burhan Wani, leader of the armed Hizbul Mujahideen group, who was killed by Indian authorities in 2016, sparking anti-government protests in Kashmir. 

On April 5, 2022, a special court of the National Investigation Agency, which handles terror-related cases, granted Sultan bail in that case, claiming that the state had failed to provide evidence linking him to any militant organization, Pandit told CPJ.

However, authorities kept Sultan at the Batamaloo Police Station in Srinagar, and then re-arrested him under the Public Safety Act, Pandit said, adding that authorities said they would move the journalist to Jammu’s Kot Bhalwal jail, about 200 miles from Srinagar.

​​Sultan’s father, Mohammad Sultan, told CPJ by phone that, before he was re-arrested, authorities at the Batamaloo Police Station insisted that the journalist would be released soon.

In January, police similarly re-arrested Sajad Gul, a journalism student and trainee reporter at the online news portal The Kashmir Walla, under the Public Safety Act after he was granted bail in a separate criminal conspiracy case, according to news reports. On March 14, police re-arrested Fahad Shah, editor of The Kashmir Walla, also under that act, after he was granted bail in a number of separate criminal and anti-terror cases, according to a statement by his outlet.

In August 2020, CPJ joined nearly 400 journalists and civil society members in calling on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to release Sultan. In February 2022, CPJ joined 57 press freedom organizations, rights groups, and publications in calling on the lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir to release all arbitrarily detained journalists, including Shah, Gul, Sultan, and freelance photojournalist Manan Dar.

Dilbag Singh, the director-general of the Jammu and Kashmir police, did not immediately respond to CPJ’s request for comment sent via messaging app.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

Ahead of national elections in the Philippines next month, the state has stepped up its attacks on Nobel Peave laureate Maria Ressa and the news outlet she leads, Rappler, reports the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders global media watchdog.

“This dramatic escalation in the legal harassment of Maria Ressa and Rappler highlights the urgent need for the Philippines’ to decriminalise libel and do away with laws that are repeatedly abused to persecute journalists whose reporting exposes public wrongdoing,” said the Hold the Line Coalition Steering Committee.

“The state’s blatant attempts to suppress Rappler’s election-related fact-checking services is an unacceptable attempt to cheat the public of their right to accurate information, which is critical during elections.”

• READ MORE: Other Maria Ressa and Rappler reports

The Philippines president election is on May 9.

Fourteen new cyber libel complaints have been made against Rappler in recent weeks, naming several journalists and their sources in connection with reporting on President Rodrigo Duterte’s pastor Apollo Quiboloy, who is on the FBI’s “most wanted” list, and eight of his followers.

Quiboloy and his associates were charged with conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; sex trafficking of children; marriage fraud; fraud, and misuse of visas; and various money laundering offences.

Quiboloy’s company Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), which has attacked independent journalists and news outlets reporting critically on the Duterte administration, was recently granted a TV licence by the government.

In addition to these cases, Ressa has been named personally as one of 17 reporters, editors and executives, and seven news organisations in cyber libel complaints brought by Duterte government cabinet minister Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.

Legal harassment
He alleges Ressa and the other named individuals and organisations “publicly accused [him] of graft” by reporting on a graft suit filed against him and a businessman.

Cusi is demanding each of the accused pay him 200 million pesos (nearly US$4 million) in damages.

Ressa did not write the article published by Rappler.

If the authorities choose to prosecute these cases, they will become criminal charges with potentially heavy jail sentences attached.

Having already been convicted of one criminal cyber libel charge, which is under appeal, and facing multiple other pre-existing legal cases, Ressa testified before the US Senate last week about the state-enabled legal harassment she experiences:

“All told, I could go to jail for the rest of my life. Because I refuse to stop doing my job as a journalist. Because Rappler holds the line and continues to protect the public sphere.”

In parallel, Rappler is facing another legal challenge, with the Philippines’ Solicitor-General petitioning the Supreme Court to void Rappler’s fact-checking agreement with the Commission of Elections (COMELEC).

Countering disinformation
As a result, this collaboration between Rappler and COMELEC designed to counter disinformation associated with the presidential poll has been temporarily halted — just over a month from the election.

“This new wave of cases and complaints, which represents an egregious attack on press freedom, is designed to undermine the essential work of fact-checking and critical reporting during elections — acts which help uphold the integrity of democratic processes.

“Rappler must be allowed to perform the essential public service of exposing falsehoods, particularly during the election period, even when these prove politically damaging for those in power,” the coalition said.

The Philippines is ranked 138th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2021 World Press Freedom Index.

Statement by Julie Posetti (ICFJ), Gypsy Guillén Kaiser (CPJ), and Daniel Bastard (RSF) on behalf of the Hold the Line Coalition.

• The #HTL Coalition comprises more than 80 organisations around the world. This statement is issued by the #HoldTheLine Steering Committee, but it does not necessarily reflect the position of all or any individual coalition members or organisations.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

On February 16, Minas Gerais state Attorney General Jarbas Soares Júnior filed a criminal complaint and a civil lawsuit against Herdy, according to the journalist, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview, a statement by the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji), and court documents that CPJ reviewed.

The complaint and lawsuit stem from a January 30 article by Herdy, a reporter at the privately owned online news outlet UOL who often reports on politics and corruption, which alleged that Soares Júnior had requested that the state government include compensation for a project in the town of São Francisco, where several of his family members live, in a recent monetary settlement from a mining company.

Fernanda Fiorenzano, a press officer at the Minas Gerais state attorney’s office, told CPJ in an email that Herdy’s report was “offensive to the honor of the Attorney General” and that the criminal complaint sought to prosecute him for “crime against honor.” 

The Brazilian penal code defines three types of crimes against honor: slander, which can carry up to two years in prison; defamation, which carries up to one year; and injury, which carries up to six months. Soares Júnior’s complaint only references the broad crime against honor; prosecutors can decide which charges to pursue, or whether to drop the investigation.

“Prosecutors should not pursue criminal charges against Brazilian journalist Thiago Herdy, and the Minas Gerais attorney general should refrain from using criminal suits and the very office he oversees to retaliate against the press,” said Natalie Southwick, CPJ’s Latin America and the Caribbean program coordinator, in New York. “Journalists play a key role in ensuring transparency and accountability, and public officials must stop responding to allegations of wrongdoing by hiding behind Brazil’s outdated criminal defamation laws.”

Herdy told CPJ that he reached out to Soares Júnior several days before publishing his article; while the attorney general’s comments were included in his report, they did not address the alleged request to include the São Francisco project in the settlement.

On February 16, Soares Júnior posted on Instagram that he had filed a civil lawsuit and criminal complaint against “the journalist who threw my mother’s history and mine to the wolves.” Herdy said that another journalist told him about that Instagram post, but authorities had not formally notified him of any legal action as of February 22.

“It is an attempt at intimidation,” Herdy told CPJ. “Instead of responding to the core of the report, he [Soares Júnior] attacks the journalist. This is a well-known strategy. As attorney general, he is attacking a fundamental right for everyone, which is the right to information and freedom of the press.”

Herdy said that, in his 16 years of covering politics and corruption, this was the first time he had faced a criminal complaint over his work.

In its statement, Abraji said it was “extremely concerning” that “the head of the state’s prosecutor’s office uses the structure of his cabinet and the strength of his position to ask the very same prosecutor’s office to investigate and prosecute a reporter that wrote a piece about him.”

Brazilian authorities have repeatedly used the country’s outdated criminal defamation laws to pressure and harass journalists, according to CPJ research.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

On Tuesday, February 8, President Ilham Aliyev enacted the law “On Media,” which replaces existing laws governing media outlets, according to news reports and a copy of the law, which CPJ reviewed.

The legislation requires the owners of media outlets to be Azerbaijani citizens permanently residing in the country if their outlets primarily cater to an audience in Azerbaijan. It also requires outlets’ owners and directors to be Azerbaijani citizens with a higher education degree.

If an outlet is found to accept foreign funding or employ a director who does not meet those requirements, it could be suspended for two months; if its owner does not meet the requirements, or if an outlet repeatedly violates other regulations, it can be shut down permanently.

Those restrictions apply to print, online, and broadcast outlets, as well as any individual or group that mainly publishes “audiovisual material” online. As CPJ has documented, many independent Azeri journalists work from exile and publish their work on social media, actions that could now be targeted under the new law.

“Azerbaijan’s new media law is riddled with ambiguities and onerous requirements, and appears deliberately calculated to target the last remaining bastions of free media covering the country,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “President Ilham Aliyev never should have approved this law, and now authorities should work to repeal it and ensure it is never used against members of the press.”

Suspensions and shutdowns of print media, news agencies, and news websites will be decided by Azerbaijan’s courts, and a new seven-member Audiovisual Council, appointed by the presidency, will oversee cases involving those who publish “audiovisual material” online. The law also replaces the term “media outlet” with “media subject,” thereby allowing authorities to target individuals in addition to corporate media entities.

State-owned media and Natig Mammadli, department director at the state’s Media Development Agency which oversaw the law, have denied that “On Media” increases any restrictions for the press, saying it aims to modernize media legislation and improve journalists’ professionalism.

According to a presidential decree accompanying the new law, authorities are also developing separate penalties, ranging from fines to short periods of detention, suspensions, and shutdowns, for outlets that do not publish an “objective presentation of events,” feature swearing or disrespect of state symbols, or which spread superstitions, among other infractions. The decree states that those new penalties will be established within two months.

The law also establishes a state-maintained register of media outlets and journalists, and a government-issued press card. To be included in the register, journalists must have a higher education degree, at least three years’ experience, and a work contract, thereby excluding freelancers. Only registered journalists will be able to obtain the new press card, which allows them to obtain accreditation with government bodies and attend government events.

The law also states that news websites can be removed from the register if they do not publish at least 20 news items per day, and could be shut down if they do not increase their output.

In an interview with the BBC’s Azerbaijani service, Mammadli insisted that the sole purpose of the register was to gather statistical data, and that journalists and outlets not included in the register would be free to continue their work.

The new law was prepared by the Media Development Agency without the participation of independent media representatives, and was made publicly available the day before it was presented to parliament in mid-December 2021, according to a statement by dozens of representatives of independent media groups and media lawyer Alasgar Mammadli, one of the statement’s signatories, who spoke to CPJ in a video interview.

Mammadli said that members of parliament adopted only two of more than 40 amendments proposed by himself and other independent representatives during brief consultations before the law was passed on December 30.

Mehman Aliyev, director of the independent Turan news agency, who was among those consulted by parliament during the law’s passage, told CPJ by phone that authorities have not explained which types of outlet and individuals will fall under the new designations in the law.

He added that officials with the Media Development Agency gave him verbal assurances that press cards produced by media outlets themselves will still be accepted by authorities, but said that assurance was not included in the text of the law.

Authorities already often deny accreditations to independent outlets and bar their access to official sources, Aliyev said, adding that he believed the register would be used to “cut off” independent outlets and “restrict journalism as far as possible to their [state and pro-government] media.”

CPJ emailed the Media Development Agency, the parliament, and the office of the Azerbaijani presidency for comment, but did not receive any replies.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

On Wednesday, February 9, two members of the Radio and Television Supreme Council, the government telecommunications regulator known as RTÜK, announced that the France-based outlet Euronews, the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Voice of America (VOA), and German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) must apply for broadcast licenses or else authorities would block their websites, according to news reports.

Those RTÜK members, İlhan Taşçı and Okan Konuralp, both members of the opposition Republican People’s Party, condemned the move in statements on Twitter.

A majority of RTÜK members ruled that, because Euronews, VOA, and DW host videos on their websites, they should be subject to the licensing requirements that regulate video broadcasters, Taşçı wrote.

“The Turkish media regulator’s reported ultimatum issued to Euronews, Voice of America, and Deutsche Welle is worrying and could severely limit their ability to work in the country,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “News outlets should not have to guess at the government’s licensing requirements; the RTÜK must immediately disclose any changes affecting those broadcasters, and give them ample time to comply with new policies.”

Taşçı tweeted that such licensing requirements would be the RTÜK’s first use of its authority to regulate online news media since the regulator was empowered to regulate online broadcasts in 2019.

The regulator has not published any official announcement about the licensing requirements.

Deutsche Welle reported that it was aware of news reports about the decision, but had not received any formal notice. It said that, after the regulator’s decision was officially posted on its website, the outlets would have 72 hours to apply for licenses or else have their websites blocked.

CPJ emailed Euronews and VOA for comment, but did not immediately receive any replies.

Previously, in October 2020, the RTÜK required the music streaming service Spotify to apply for a license, and similarly gave the company 72 hours to comply.

Konuralp wrote that he believed the licensing requirements were “a move to put pressure on the international media.”

CPJ emailed RTÜK for comment but did not receive any response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

“President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan should drop his civil suit against imprisoned journalist Sedef Kabaş and media executive Fırat Sakar, and ensure that journalists can do their jobs without having to choose between paying fealty to the president or facing legal harassment,” said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Gulnoza Said, in New York. “Authorities should immediately release Kabaş, and neither she nor any other member of the press should face retaliation for participating in public political debate.”

Authorities arrested Kabaş, a freelance journalist, on January 22 and charged her with insulting the president over comments she made during a political debate aired on TELE1, as CPJ documented at the time. CPJ and 26 other international organizations issued a joint letter to Turkish authorities on February 1 calling for her release.

On Tuesday, February 8, while Kabaş was in detention awaiting trial on that criminal insult charge, Erdoğan separately filed a civil suit seeking 250,000 liras (US$18,405) in damages from Kabaş and Sakar over Kabaş’ comments,  according to news reports.

Ahmet Özel, a lawyer representing Erdoğan, argued in the suit that Kabaş “went beyond the limits of free speech” and “publicly humiliated” the president in her comments, and that Sakar was legally responsible for comments made on TELE1, those reports said.

CPJ emailed the Turkish president’s office for comment but did not immediately receive any response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

On Saturday, February 5, Lorraine Marie T. Badoy, a spokesperson for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, a body tasked with responding to and raising awareness about communist activities in the country, published a statement on her official Facebook page saying that the task force “is taking legal action” against Rappler, according to news reports.

The statement accused Rappler of spreading “disinformation” in a January 31 article fact-checking statements by Badoy. She also said the task force would act against Facebook for allowing Rappler and Vera Files, the two local news outlets approved by Facebook to serve as fact-checkers, to “abuse the immense powers of [that] designation” and harm national security.

Gemma Mendoza, head of digital strategy at Rappler, told CPJ in a phone interview that the outlet had not received any official legal complaint, and that it was not clear under which law it could be charged.

“Philippine authorities must drop their frivolous legal threat against Rappler and stop harassing the independent news group and its employees,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Even in its waning days, the Duterte administration will stop at nothing to silence one of the Philippines’ most credible independent news outlets.”

The January 31 Rappler article labeled as “false” statements by Badoy claiming that members of the Makabayan Bloc minority political coalition included operatives affiliated with “communist guerillas.”

Previously, in March 2021, the task force accused Rappler of being a “friend and ally” of communist rebels over a separate fact-check, according to news reports.

The government practice of claiming journalists and activists are associated with banned communist or leftist groups is known as “red-tagging” in the Philippines, and has resulted in the wrongful criminal suits, detentions, and deaths, according to Rappler.

CPJ sent requests for comment to Badoy and the task force’s official Facebook pages, but did not receive any replies.

Last year, Rappler founder Maria Ressa received the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to safeguard press freedom amid legal threats in the Philippines. She also received CPJ’s Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award in 2018.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

Prosecutors with the Special High Court in Athens recently summoned Vaxevanis, publisher and reporter with the Documento newspaper, and Papadakou, a former journalist who worked as a reporter for the To Vima newspaper and as a host at the Alpha TV broadcaster, according to multiple media reports and both journalists, who communicated with CPJ via email.

Authorities accuse the journalists of multiple criminal offences relating to their reporting on government officials who allegedly took bribes from the Swiss drugmaker Novartis, as well as other corruption allegations, according to those sources.

Vaxevanis and Papadakou told CPJ that they denied the allegations and said they were facing political retaliation for their work.

“Greek authorities should drop their investigations into journalists Kostas Vaxevanis and Ioanna Papadakou, and ensure that members of the press do not face legal harassment for years-old investigations into government corruption,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Authorities should stop pursuing journalists simply for doing their jobs, and should encourage investigative reporters who expose corruption.”

The prosecution accuses both journalists of membership in a criminal organization and three counts of conspiracy—to expose innocent people to prosecution, to extort, and to breach duty—which could carry up to five years in prison each if charged and convicted, for a total of 20 years, according to Papadakou and Vaxevanis.

The allegations against Vaxevanis stem from Documento’s 2018 to 2020 investigations into government officials who allegedly took bribes from Novartis, according to the journalist, those news reports, and CPJ’s review of that reporting. 

Vaxevanis told CPJ that he appeared at the court on January 19 in response to the summons, where he was given a case file of tens of thousands of pages, and is required to return to court on February 18 for his full testimony, after which he may be formally charged.

Papadakou, who lives in Brussels, said the allegations against her relate to her coverage of the Novartis case when she worked as a journalist, as well as her coverage of the 2013 leak of a list of wealthy Greeks who used Swiss bank accounts to allegedly avoid paying taxes.

She told CPJ that she was summoned to appear on January 25, but that date was postponed due to snow in Athens and a new date had not been set. She said she requested the investigation against her be annulled, and said she stands by her reporting.

In an editorial in Documento, Vaxevanis said that the investigations represent an “unprecedented criminalization of journalism.” He accused the conservative New Democracy party, which took power in 2019, of pursuing the investigations with political motives.

CPJ emailed the prosecutor’s office at the Special High Court in Athens, the press department of Novartis in Greece, and the New Democracy party for comment but did not immediately receive any replies.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

Since early January, the attorney general’s office in Praia, the capital, has issued three summonses to Silves, editor of the privately owned news website Santiago Magazine, over his reporting on alleged police abuses, according to a report by Santiago Magazine; Silves, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview; and copies of the summonses, which CPJ reviewed.

The three summonses—sent on January 3, 5, and 12—concern alleged violations of Cape Verde’s judicial secrecy laws. If convicted of violating judicial secrecy, Silves could face six months to four years in prison under Cape Verde’s penal code.

The journalist is ordered to appear at the Praia attorney general’s office for questioning on January 26.

“Prosecutors in Cape Verde must stop hounding journalist Hermínio Silves and should abandon their fishing expedition into his confidential sources,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator. “Journalists must be able to report on alleged abuses by officials without fear that they will be subject to legal harassment or see their reporting on issues in the public interest be criminalized.”

On December 26, Silves published a report in Santiago Magazine on an investigation into the potential involvement of the judicial police and Minister of Internal Administration Paulo Rocha in the alleged murder and torture of a criminal suspect in 2014, when Rocha was deputy director of the judicial police.

On December 30, the attorney general’s office published a statement confirming the investigation into the alleged murder, but denied it had summoned Rocha. The statement added, “Santiago Magazine’s report alleges it had access to classified documents” and that authorities therefore “ordered a criminal investigation into the alleged crime of violation of judicial secrecy” and sought to identify the source of those documents.

Rocha’s adviser Carla Almeida emailed CPJ a statement from the minister denying all the allegations against him, and adding that he would defend “my dignity, my good name and public image” with all legal means available.

The January 3 summons names Silves and Santiago Magazine as witnesses in an investigation into violations of the judicial secrecy law; the January 5 summons overrode the previous one, and names them as defendants; and the January 12 summons, which overrode both previous summons, says the journalist is expected to appear and that “the decision whether they [Silves and the outlet] are witnesses or defendants” would be made on the day of his appearance, according to the summonses and Silves’ lawyer, Silvino Fernandes, who spoke to CPJ via phone.

Silves told CPJ that the summonses send “a message to all journalists that some people are off limits.” He said he believed the attorney general’s office was “retreating” after issuing the second summons, because of an outcry among media workers that he had been labeled as a defendant.

He told CPJ that he planned to attend the questioning with his lawyer, but said, “my sources, they won’t get from me.”

When CPJ called the Praia attorney general’s office, a representative requested that questions be sent to the office’s spokesperson, Inelson Costa. Costa replied by referring CPJ to a January 20 statement by the Public Ministry, saying that authorities were investigating a suspected violation of judicial secrecy.

That statements says that, while journalists are not themselves bound by judicial secrecy laws, they can still face other penalties under Article 133 of the criminal procedure code for committing “qualified disobedience” by disclosing confidential judicial information; under the penal code, that could be punished by up to two years in prison or a fine to be set by a judge.

Jeremias Furtado, president of the Cape Verdean Journalists Association, a local trade group, told CPJ via messaging app that he considered the investigation to be an attack on media freedom.

On January 13, Cape Verde President José Neves told reporters that everything possible should be done to protect press freedom. He said journalists should not be guilty of a crime if they access and publish confidential information, and the responsibility should lie with whoever managed that information.

Editor’s note: The spelling of Carla Almeida’s name has been corrected in paragraph eight.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

Yesterday, the Fifth Van Court of Serious Crimes convicted Sala, a freelance reporter, of making propaganda for a terrorist organization and issued her a 15-month suspended prison sentence, according to news reports.

Authorities in the eastern city of Van convicted Sala based on her tweets and retweets about Turkish politics and the conflict in Syria, as well as other users’ posts in which she was tagged, according to court documents that CPJ reviewed. Sala frequently posts political analysis and commentary on her Twitter account, where she has about 600 followers.

According to those court documents, authorities questioned Sala about her previous employment at pro-Kurdish news outlets, and evidence used against her included an archive of her previous journalistic work.

Sala’s lawyer, Erselen Aktan, told CPJ in a phone interview that Sala intends to appeal the verdict, and would pursue her case at the Constitutional Court if her appeal was denied.

“Turkish authorities’ vague propaganda charges against journalist Nazan Sala should never have been pursued, and the suspended prison sentence recently issued to her is unacceptable,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Sala already spent months behind bars for her work, and authorities still seem persistent in pursuing this legal harassment.”

Sala was originally charged with membership in a terrorist organization, alongside Adnan Bilen, Cemil Uğur, and Zeynep Durgut—reporters for the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya News Agency—and Şehriban Abi, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish news website Jinha, according to those news reports.

Authorities arrested Bilen, Uğur, Abi, and Sala in Van in October 2020, and released them pending trial in April 2021, according to CPJ research and news reports.

The charges related to Bilen and Uğur’s coverage in the Mezopotamya News Agency of allegations that Turkish military personnel threw two men from a helicopter in Van in 2020, news reports said; the journalists were all acquitted of those membership charges, but Sala was separately charged and convicted with making terrorist propaganda.

Sala works as a freelancer and has contributed to the Mezopotamya News Agency and other outlets, covering politics and war, according to her lawyer.  

CPJ emailed the Van Chief Prosecutor’s Office for comment but received no immediate reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

On December 9, national police officers arrested Ayité, the publication director of the privately owned L’Alternative newspaper, after he responded to a summons to appear at the Research and Investigations Brigade (BIR), according to multiple media reports and Ayité’s Facebook posts. The summons followed a complaint by two Togolese government ministers who are also pastors, Pius Agbetomey and Kodjo Adédzé, about a November 30 online broadcast that featured all three of the journalists, according to the journalists’ lawyer Elom Kpade and those reports. During the broadcast, which is part of a series called “L’Autre Journal” on L’Alternative’s YouTube channel with over 15,000 followers, the journalists discussed the two ministers’ alleged corruption and manipulation of the Togo public.

The next day, on December 10, police summoned Egah, the director of the privately owned Fraternité newspaper, and Kouwonou, the editor in chief of L’Alternative. Egah was then arrested and detained, while Kouwonou was released the same day under judicial supervision, the reports and posts said. Ayité and Egah were accused of “contempt of authorities” and “propagation of falsehoods,” and Kouwonou was accused of complicity in these two crimes, Kpade told CPJ via messaging app. 

“There is absolutely no reason for Togolese journalists Ferdinand Ayité and Joël Egah to have been arrested or detained. Authorities should release them immediately and put an end to the legal harassment of Isidore Kouwonou,” said Muthoki Mumo, CPJ’s Sub-Saharan Africa Representative, from Nairobi. “Togo’s laws and law enforcement should be used to protect the press and ensure they can work freely, not leveraged in efforts to intimidate or criminalize journalism.”

Anyone found guilty of “contempt against representatives of public authority” may be punished with up to two years in prison and a fine of 1 million West African francs (US$1,722), according to Togo’s penal code. Publication of false news is punishable with up to two years in prison and a fine of 2 million West African francs (US$3,445). “Coaction and complicity” punishments aligned with those of the associated crimes.

Press offenses are “decriminalized” in Togo and therefore Ayité should not have been detained, Kpade told CPJ hours after his arrest. Ferdinand’s summons and arrest took place without any documentation of the complaint, which Kpade described as an abuse of authority in a recording posted on YouTube by local media on December 10. “One cannot be arrested based simply on a phone call,” Kpade said.

“Grievances brought against journalists in the exercise of their profession must be assessed with regard to the provisions of the Press Code and not the Penal Code,” said Isidore Akollor, the president of the Togolese Press Patronage, a local media association, in a December 11 statement that CPJ reviewed and was published by local media.

State prosecutor Mawama Talaka told CPJ via messaging app that he declined to comment on the journalists’ situation because “[a]s a judicial authority, it does not seem appropriate to communicate with the press on an ongoing case.” Text messages sent to Agbetomey and Adédzé from CPJ requesting comment went unanswered.

The Togolese government has suspended L’Alternative twice in less than two years: in February 2021, when Ayité also faced legal harassment, and in April 2020, when the government suspended L’Alternative, Fraternité, and a third newspaper, Liberté.Ayité’s phone number has also appeared on the Pegasus Project list of those allegedly selected for potential spyware surveillance.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

On October 7, members of the All European Awami League, a Europe-focused branch of Bangladesh’s ruling Awami League party, filed a complaint with the Globen police department in Sweden’s Stockholm county against Khalil, editor-in-chief of the Sweden-based news website Netra News, claiming that the journalist had engaged in “a consistent effort to peddle a wave of disinformation and slanders against the government of Bangladesh” through Netra News, according to news reports and Khalil, who spoke with CPJ in a phone interview.

The complaint also alleges that Khalil, who lives in Sweden, has been “spreading smears and rumors to confuse the public and often casting as persons against the Prime Minister and her family members,” according to those reports.

Khalil told CPJ that the police have not contacted him, and he has not seen the complaint himself; CPJ was unable to review a copy of the complaint. The Swedish police can decide whether to pursue an investigation into the complaint, Khalil said.

“Bangladesh authorities and political leaders need to accept critical coverage by journalists like Tasneem Khalil, and stop trying to muzzle their voices through ceaseless harassment,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “The All European Awami League should withdraw its complaint against Khalil, and Bangladesh authorities must stop harassing Khalil and his family, and allow journalists to do their work without interference.”

Netra News has recently published a number of columns criticizing the Bangladesh government, the Awami League, and the crackdown on press freedom in the country.

CPJ emailed the All European Awami League and the office of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who also serves as president of the Awami League, for comment, but did not receive any replies.

When CPJ called the Swedish national police, an officer declined to comment and requested that CPJ submit questions via email. When CPJ emailed the national police for comment, an officer referred questions to the Stockholm county police. CPJ emailed that office for comment but did not immediately receive any reply.

Separately, authorities in Bangladesh have repeatedly harassed Khalil’s mother, the journalist said.

On April 9, 2020, members of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, the intelligence section of the Bangladesh armed forces, visited the home of Khalil’s mother, Nazneen Khalil, questioned her about her private life, and asked her to speak to Khalil regarding his journalistic work which they alleged “tarnishes the image of the country,” according to news reports and a Facebook post by Khalil at the time.

On October 27, 2020, members of the Special Branch of the police in the northeastern Bangladesh city of Sylhet, where Nazneen Khalil lives, questioned her about the whereabouts of Khalil and his siblings, who are not journalists, according to Khalil and his Facebook post at the time.

CPJ called and emailed the office of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, but received error messages. Mofiz Uddin Ahmed, deputy inspector general of the Sylhet police, did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.

On September 12, the Dhaka Cyber Tribunal accepted Digital Security Act charges against Khalil on the basis of a police report that alleged that he made derogatory comments about government officials on his Facebook page and “instigated” Kabir Kishore, a Bangladeshi cartoonist, to “make anti-state rumors go viral on social media,” as CPJ documented at the time.

On October 6, police in Dhaka arrested Nusrat Shahrin Raka, the sister of exiled journalist Kanak Sarwar in apparent retaliation for his critical coverage of the Bangladesh government and ruling Awami League, as CPJ documented. Yesterday, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Dhaka denied Raka’s bail application, according to Sarwar, who spoke to CPJ via phone.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

On September 21, the Zagreb Municipal Civil Court, the capital, issued an injunction to H-alter, barring the outlet from reporting on a local childcare clinic and its director, according to H-alter editor Toni Gabrić, who communicated with CPJ via email, and a statement by the Croatian Journalists’ Association, an independent trade group.

The injunction was issued in response to a complaint filed by Gordana Buljan Flander on behalf of the Polyclinic for Child and Youth Protection of the City of Zagreb, a public childcare institution where she was director at the time, alleging that H-alter’s critical reporting on the institution and Flander had damaged their reputations, according to those sources.

Gabrić said that the injunction is in effect for 30 days, during which the institution or Flander can claim damages or initiate a criminal proceeding for insult or defamation. He said the injunction was issued under the Enforcement Act, which normally regulates the payments of debts and taxes, and is not typically used in media cases. Gabrić said he feared that the case could take four or five years if it continued to the courts, during which the gag order would remain in place.

Gabrić added that the court issued the injunction without any input from H-alter, and the outlet appealed the decision on October 1, but no court date had been set for that appeal.

“Public institutions have a right to challenge news reports in civil court, but the Croatian judicial system must ensure that such actions do not turn into censorship,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Croatian authorities must drop their injunction against the news website H-alter, and let it report freely.”

The injunction, which CPJ reviewed, bars the website from publishing any information related to the “dignity, professional work and professional achievements” of Flander and the clinic.

From July 15 to September 22, H-alter published a series of articles on the clinic’s policies that allegedly favored fathers in custody disputes, even when the fathers had been found to be abusive or unfit.

Flander announced her resignation from the clinic on September 23, saying that she did not feel she enjoyed the support of Zagreb’s mayor, according to reports. She vowed to continue legal action against H-alter and she criticized its reporting as “very ugly articles” that were “full of untruths,” according to those reports.

Also on September 23, the mayor announced that he was dissolving the clinic’s board of directors because it was not appropriate for a public institution to request a gag order, Gabrić told CPJ.

CPJ emailed Flander, the Polyclinic for Child and Youth Protection of the City of Zagreb, the Zagreb mayor’s office, and the office of Zagreb Municipal Civil Court, for comment, but did not receive any replies.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

Yesterday, the Russian Justice Ministry expanded its lists of so-called “foreign agents,” adding the independent news website Mediazona, the human-rights news website OVD-Info, and two journalists—Mediazona publisher Pyotr  Verzilov and chief editor Sergei Smirnov—according to news reports. 

Authorities added Mediazona and its journalists to the mass media foreign agents list, and added OVD-Info to a list of public associations that operate as foreign agents.

“By adding Mediazona and OVD-Info to its so-called foreign agents list, Russian authorities continue harassing the last remaining independent media outlets in the country,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Authorities should stop their crackdown on the media and scrap the foreign agents register, which only serves to obstruct and stifle independent journalists.”

Russia’s foreign agent legislation, initially adopted in 2012 and amended several times to include media outlets and journalists, requires organizations receiving money from abroad to submit to audits, be labeled as foreign agents when cited in media reports, include information on every publication identifying its source as produced by a foreign agent, and submit to a variety of other restrictions. Failure to comply can result in fines.

Mediazona is registered in Russia but accepts donations from around the world, and the Russian government alleges that it is involved in political activities within the country, according to reports. OVD-Info is supported by the nongovernmental organization Memorial, and the outlet’s media coordinator, Konstantin Fomin, told CPJ via phone that about 10 percent of Memorials’ funding comes as grants from abroad.

OVD-Info frequently covers protests and activism in Russia, and has offered legal support to people detained at rallies, according to CPJ’s review of its website. Fomin, told CPJ that “Russia will be left without NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] and without independent media” if the foreign agent list continues to expand. 

OVD-Info co-founder Grigory Okhotin told the Associated Press that the move was part of a “pressure campaign against independent organizations and the media.”

Mediazona covers daily news with a focus on the judicial system and prisoners’ rights, according to CPJ’s review of its content. In a statement published yesterday, the outlet said that the foreign agent label would “greatly complicate our work and, perhaps, put Mediazona on the brink of survival” because of the stigma attached to such outlets.

Last month, in the run-up to the September parliamentary elections, authorities added Dozhd, the country’s biggest independent TV channel, and IStories fonds, the Latvia-based publisher of independent investigative news website IStories, as well as several current and former IStories employees, to the foreign agents register, as CPJ documented at the time.

When CPJ called Russia’s Ministry of Justice, the person who answered the phone said the ministry did not have any comment on the classifications.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

CC: Mr. Asaduzzaman Khan
Minister of Home Affairs
Ministry of Home Affairs
People’s Republic of Bangladesh
WhatsApp +880 1711-541569
minister@mha.gov.bd

Dear Minister Anisul Huq,

The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent non-governmental organization that champions press freedom around the world, writes to request that you drop legal proceedings against Prothom Alo journalist Rozina Islam and order the immediate return of items that were confiscated from her, including two cell phones, her passport, and her government-issued identity card.

On May 17, 2021, authorities arrested Islam, an award-winning investigative journalist specializing in covering health care issues, including alleged corruption at the Ministry of Health. Authorities held her for over five hours without any clear legal basis after she was accused of taking pictures of official documents lying openly on a desk at the Ministry of Health. She was subsequently jailed for seven days, after which she was granted bail under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, and was ordered to surrender her passport.

We have a number of concerns about authorities’ treatment of Islam. Use of the Official Secrets Act, which allows for up to 14 years in prison or the death penalty upon conviction, is an inappropriate and extremely disproportionate legal remedy for Islam’s alleged actions. Charging journalists under this law only serves to discredit law enforcement in Bangladesh and strengthens the case that these charges are less about enforcing the law than seeking revenge against a journalist known for exposing corruption in the Ministry of Health.

In addition to these charges, Islam is being severely and unjustly punished. The government’s refusal to return her identity card makes it impossible for her to work as a journalist. The seizure of her cell phones hinders her work and severely undermines press freedom, given the sensitive reporting information contained on those devices, and compromises her personal security. The confiscation of her passport makes it impossible for her to accompany her husband for necessary medical treatment abroad. In another move aimed at intimidating Islam, last month the Financial Intelligence Unit asked banks to submit all account and transaction information involving the journalist.

This is pure harassment, and it needs to stop. We urge you to drop the charges against Islam and return her documents and devices immediately. The government of Bangladesh should not be creating obstacles for journalists who are merely doing their jobs.

Yours sincerely,

Steven Butler

Asia Program Coordinator
Committee to Protect Journalists

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

“While we are delighted that Guatemalan journalist Anastasia Mejía’s legal ordeal has come to an end, she never should have been detained, charged, and subjected to such harassment over her reporting,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna, in New York. “Guatemalan authorities need to send a clear signal that journalists can cover any topic, including political protests, without fear of retaliation.”

In September 2020, police arrested Mejía on charges of sedition and arson, connected to her coverage of a demonstration against the mayor of the town of Joyabaj the previous month. She was held in pretrial detention for five weeks before being released on house arrest, she told CPJ.

On September 3, 2021, the Nebaj Criminal Court of First Instance ruled that there was insufficient evidence to pursue the charges against her, according to news reports.

In November, Mejía will receive CPJ’s 2021 International Press Freedom Award in recognition of her work.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

The High Court on September 1 ruled that Xu, chief editor of The Online Citizen news blog, “acted recklessly, with indifference to the truth and with ill-will” in publishing Shunmuganathan’s August 2019 article about tensions among Prime Minister Lee’s siblings that caused “serious harm” to the premier’s reputation, according to news reports.

According to Xu, who spoke with CPJ via email, and those reports, the journalists owe a combined 210,000 Singapore dollars (US$156,589) in damages to the prime minister.

Reports also said the court issued an injunction for the outlet not to publish or refer to the allegations made by the prime minister’s siblings.

“The punitive defamation judgment against Online Citizen bloggers Terry Xu and Rubaashini Shunmuganathan are a blight on Singapore’s democratic reputation and blow to freedom of the press in the country,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong should stop trying to sue the independent press out of existence.”

Lee’s press secretary said in a statement reported by media on September 1 that the damages awarded would be donated to charity. CPJ’s emailed requests for comment to the prime minister’s office and the High Court on the ruling’s implications for press freedom did not receive a reply.

The Online Citizen article repeated allegations made by the premier’s siblings over the contested handling of a property of their deceased father Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding father, news reports said.

Infighting between Lee and his two siblings over the colonial-era property was widely reported in 2017, the reports said. Lee’s press secretary demanded that Xu remove the article and apologize, as CPJ documented at the time.

Xu said he removed the article, but then put it back up three days later with clarifications and the letter from the press secretary; he told CPJ he did not apologize.

Xu told CPJ that he would not appeal the ruling because of the nature of Singapore’s defamation laws, which he said do not recognize the defense of “qualified privilege” for online publications.

“I think the suit itself is an assault on press freedom and there is a need to call for reformation of the defamation law,” Xu told CPJ. “The prime minister chose to sue a journalist over allegations made [by] his siblings, who he chose not to sue.”

Xu said The Online Citizen would continue publishing but would abide by the court’s injunction not to publish material about the siblings’ allegations.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

On June 10, the Zyuzinsky District Court in Moscow accepted a lawsuit filed against Dud, who runs the YouTube channel vDud, for allegedly publishing propaganda about drugs in his video interviews, according to news reports and the court’s website. By accepting the suit, authorities formally opened court proceedings against Dud for allegedly committing a misdemeanor under Russia’s administrative code, according to those reports.

The case stems from a complaint filed to Moscow police on April 5 by the Safe Internet League, a non-profit group that opposes allegedly immoral activity online, according to news reports. Yekaterina Mizulina, the league’s head and also a member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, a body that analyzes draft legislation, wrote on social media platform VK that complaint focused on two of Dud’s interviews, with a Ukrainian blogger and a Russian rapper, who each discussed drugs.

If convicted of publishing drug propaganda, Dud could face a fine of up to 1.5 million rubles (US $21,000), according to Russian law. No court date has been set, according to those reports.

“Russian authorities should immediately cease all court proceedings against journalist Yury Dud and once and for all stop harassing journalists for simply doing their jobs,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Journalists should be able to interview people without fear of facing fines and trials, and should be able to report the news and conduct interviews freely.”

The vDud YouTube channel has about 9.2 million subscribers, and features interviews by Dud with celebrities and politicians. The channel has published content on sensitive issues, including a documentary critical of Russian authorities’ handling of a 2004 attack on a school by Chechen militants, and a 2020 interview with opposition figure Alexei Navalny.

Before each of the interviews cited by Mizulina, vDud posted a disclaimer stating that drugs would be discussed in the following segment, and that they were “evil,” “poison,” and should not be used.

Previously, on June 3, the Zyuzinsky District Court fined Alisher Morgenshtern, the rapper who Dud interviewed, 100,000 rubles (US $1,391) for spreading drug propaganda in his songs, according to reports, which said he would appeal.

CPJ reached out to Dud on his Facebook and Instagram accounts for comment, and messaged the journalist through his official website, but did not receive any replies.

CPJ emailed Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and but did not receive any reply.

When CPJ called Mizulina, a person answered and identified himself as Vladislav, and said that the number was for the Safe Internet League. He said that a manager could respond to CPJ’s questions, but was not available at the moment.

When CPJ called back today, a person who identified herself as Tatyana said that the number was actually the hotline for the National Help Center for Missing and Injured Children, which Mizulina directs and is the parent organization of the Safe Internet League. She said that a representative would call back to respond to CPJ’s queries; at the time of publication, they had not called.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

On June 14, the First Peace Court in the city of Santa Ana ordered Revista Factum to take down an article on an ongoing investigation into a mass grave in the western city of Chalchuapa, according to the court order and an announcement on Twitter by the attorney general’s office.

In the order, prosecutors accused the website of committing multiple violations of the Salvadoran Constitution and criminal code, including violating due process in the ongoing criminal trial related to the grave and the right to privacy of the crime’s “indirect victims.” The court order did not cite the specific laws under which Revista Factum or its staff could be prosecuted.

The order, which does not specify which parts of the article violated these laws, also required the outlet to refrain from “revealing” any information related to the case or the article in a webinar its staff had organized for that day; the court also asserted that the order “should not be understood as a ban or censorship of the media outlet.”

Revista Factum editor-in-chief César Fagoaga told CPJ in a phone interview that the outlet complied with the order and removed the article from its website, and canceled the webinar due to concerns that they could face criminal charges.

“If Salvadoran authorities are truly concerned with the integrity of an ongoing criminal case, they should clarify exactly which sections of Revista Factum’s reporting put that case in jeopardy, instead of issuing a blanket ban,” said CPJ Central and South America Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick, in New York. “Authorities cannot use vague claims to justify censoring an entire article, and should reverse this decision immediately to avoid setting a dangerous precedent.”

The Revista Factum article, entitled “Assassin from Chalchuapa confesses how 13 victims were killed in the last year,” has been republished by the Mexican outlet Anímal Político. The article reconstructs the case of a mass grave with at least 15 bodies that was found in the yard of a former police officer in Chalchuapa, and cites the testimony of a protected witness, but does not name any victims or witnesses.

The article also cites witness statements alleging that at least 13 of the bodies were buried between 2020 and 2021, contradicting police statements alleging that the killings occurred more than 10 years ago.

Fagoaga told CPJ that the outlet’s staff see the court order as an attempt to censor their work, as the article does not disclose personal information about the victims but does contradict authorities’ timeline for the killings.

“They [government officials] want to hide things that can damage their image. So they put the image of this government before the right to the truth,” Fagoaga said.

CPJ emailed the Salvadoran attorney general’s office and contacted the judiciary through its website for comment, but did not receive any replies.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

Yesterday, Uttar Pradesh police filed a criminal complaint stating that they were opening a investigation into The Wire as well as Ayyub, a Washington Post columnist; Naqvi, a freelance journalist; and Zubair, co-founder of the fact-checking website Alt News, according to various news reports and a copy of the complaint, which CPJ reviewed.

The complaint alleges that the three journalists and the news outlet, as well as several politicians from the opposition Congress Party, shared an unverified video that could cause social unrest.

“Indian authorities singling out journalists, some of whom are known for critical coverage of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, for sharing and commenting on a video looks suspiciously like selective law enforcement and amounts to a serious attack on press freedom,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “Uttar Pradesh police must withdraw their complaint immediately and stop harassing journalists and news outlets.”

On June 14, The Wire and many other leading news outlets reported on a widely shared video from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad district, which allegedly depicted a group of Hindu men beating an elderly Muslim man, cutting off his beard, and forcing him to chant a Hindu slogan. Ayyub, Naqvi, and Zubair tweeted about the video, according to those news reports and the complaint.

The complaint, filed by an inspector at the Loni Border police station in Ghaziabad, accuses Ayyub, Naqvi, and Zubair of posting tweets police alleged were misleading and unverified.

The complaint states that police are investigating the three journalists and The Wire for violating Sections 153 (provocation to cause a riot), 153A (promoting enmity between religious groups), 295A (insulting religious beliefs), 505 (public mischief), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian penal code.

Each of those sections carry prison penalties of up to one year for convictions, except for criminal conspiracy, which carries up to two years, according to the Indian penal code.

In posts on Twitter after the criminal complaint was filed, Ayyub, Naqvi, and Zubair noted that their descriptions of the video were based on initial news reports.

CPJ texted Uttar Pradesh Police Director-General Hitesh Awasthy for comment but did not receive any reply.

Last year, Uttar Pradesh police filed opened criminal investigations into The Wire’s Siddharth Vardarajan for allegedly “spreading discord” related to the COVID-19 lockdown, as CPJ documented at the time.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

“Instead of responding Algerian citizens’ demands, authorities are instead resorting to petty retaliation against the messengers,” said CPJ Senior Middle East and North Africa Researcher Justin Shilad. “Algerian authorities should reverse their decision stripping France 24’s accreditation and allow the channel’s journalists, and all journalists in the country, to work freely.”

On June 13, the Ministry of Communications issued a statement, attributed to Communications Minister Ammar Belhimer, saying that France 24’s accreditation was withdrawn in response to the channel’s “clear and repeated hostility towards our country and its institutions.” The broadcaster published a statement later that day saying that authorities had not offered any specific explanation for the decision.

The revocation came one day after Algeria held legislative elections, which saw the lowest voter turnout in 20 years, according to France 24. In March, Belhimer threatened to withdraw France 24’s accreditation over its coverage of ongoing protests in the country.

CPJ could not immediately determine whether France 24 correspondents would be permitted to remain in the country. In 2019, Algerian authorities expelled Agence France-Presse bureau chief Aymeric Vincenot after refusing to renew his accreditation, thereby causing his residency permit to expire, as CPJ documented at the time.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

In May 21, two relatives of Miguel Martínez, the former director of the Government Center presidential commission, a branch of the Guatemalan executive, filed a criminal suit against del Cid and Figueroa, both reporters at the investigative news website Vox Populi, alleging that they violated laws pertaining to coercion and violence against women, according to news reports and del Cid, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview.

In the suit, María Luisa Morales Gatica, the ex-official’s mother, and Claudia Ivonne Martínez Morales, his sister, claimed they had experienced emotional and psychological trauma due to del Cid and Figueroa’s work, and that it violated the country’s Law Against Femicide and Other Forms of Violence Against Women; they did not specify which articles caused those alleged injuries, according to del Cid and a May 21 court document, which CPJ reviewed.

Del Cid told CPJ that their next court date is scheduled for July 14. If convicted of violence against women under the Law Against Femicide, the journalists could face five to 12 years in prison; if convicted of coercion under the penal code, they could face six months to two years.

Del Cid told CPJ that he believes the suit is related to Vox Populi’s reporting on the Guatemalan government and Miguel Martínez specifically. Earlier this year, the journalists published an article examining Martínez’s finances and his recent home purchase.

“Guatemalan authorities must drop the criminal charges against journalists Marvin del Cid and Sonny Figueroa and allow them to work freely, and should prevent officials and those close to them from manipulating laws that are supposed to protect women,” said CPJ Central and South America Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick, in New York. “Guatemala’s Law Against Femicide was created to address the country’s high rates of gender-based violence, not to shield powerful individuals from criticism or offer them yet another tool to censor the press.”

On May 21, Judge Michelle Dardón imposed a restraining order barring the journalists from approaching the plaintiffs or their family members or entering their homes or workplaces, according to that court decision.

CPJ emailed the Guatemalan judiciary for comment but did not receive any response. CPJ was unable to find contact information for Miguel Martínez, his sister, or his mother.

On May 31, a group of more than 60 local organizations issued a statement condemning the “malicious” use of the country’s law against domestic violence in the case against the Vox Populi reporters, calling it “an abuse of public power,” according to news reports.

In late 2020, del Cid and Figueroa received a threatening letter warning them to stop their work, and President Alejandro Giammattei singled out both journalists for criticism, as CPJ documented at the time.

In 2013, then Vice President Roxana Baldetti sued journalist José Rubén Zamora under the Law Against Femicide, and in 2018, Sandra Jovel, then Guatemala’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, sued him for psychological violence and discrimination under that law, according to CPJ reporting and news reports.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

Yesterday, the Cyber Crime Reporting Center of Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency in Rawalpindi issued a summons addressed to Toor’s home, ordering him to appear for questioning on June 4, according to the Dawn newspaper and a copy of the summons, which CPJ reviewed.

Authorities seek to question Toor in response to a complaint that he defamed an “institution of Government of Pakistan” on “social media,” according to the summons, which does not specify the social media post in question or the government institution that was allegedly defamed, and warns that he could face criminal prosecution if he does not comply.

Toor, a producer for the privately owned broadcaster Aaj TV who also hosts a YouTube current affairs channel that has about 25,000 subscribers, told CPJ in a phone call today that he had not received the summons; he said he only heard about it and seen copies circulating on social media.

Last year, Toor faced a similar accusation that was ultimately dismissed by a court for lack of evidence, according to news reports.

“Pakistan authorities must halt the ceaseless harassment of journalist Asad Ali Toor and allow him to work without interference,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Criticizing state institutions is a core function of a free press in a democracy, and Pakistan should not try to thwart such speech.”

According to Dawn, the summons was issued in response to a complaint by a person identified as Fayyaz Mehmood Raja, who objected to posts by Toor on social media. CPJ was unable to find any contact information for Raja.

Toor said he did not know what prompted the summons, which states that “The available facts suggest you are well aware of the facts/circumstances of said enquiry.”

Last week, unidentified men attacked Toor at his home and left him bound and gagged, as CPJ documented at the time. Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said today that authorities were close to locating one of the suspects of that attack, according to reports.

Toor also told CPJ that, since yesterday, he has received phone calls from numbers around the world berating him about his political commentary. He said his phone number had been revealed on social media, even though he had obtained a new number after last week’s attackers seized his phone.

CPJ emailed the Federal Investigation Agency director-general’s office for comment, but did not immediately receive any reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

On May 7, police in the northern state of Kedah summoned Zunar, who publishes his political cartoons on the Malaysiakini news website, and questioned him about a cartoon that lampooned Kedah Chief Minister Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, according to news reports and the cartoonist, who spoke with CPJ in a video interview. Authorities also confiscated his phone during the interrogation and did not return it, Zunar said.

Zunar told CPJ that police said he was being investigated under Section 233 of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Act, a criminal provision that bars the improper use of network facilities, and Section 505 of the penal code, a law that broadly bans statements, rumors, or reports that could cause public mischief. Convictions under Section 233 allow for one-year prison sentences and fines, while violations of Section 505 carry possible two-year prison terms, according to those laws.

The investigation was initiated by complaints filed by Muhammed, one of the minister’s associates, and members of the public, Zunar said.

“Authorities should stop their legal harassment of cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, known as Zunar, return his phone immediately, and allow him to continue drawing his political cartoons without fear of reprisal,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “These bogus legal threats against journalists make a mockery of Malaysia’s democracy.”

In his January 24 cartoon, Zunar mocked Muhammad’s decision to cancel the state’s Thaipusam Hindu religious festival due to COVID-19. Muhammad, a member of the Malaysian Islamic Party, which rules Kedah and is part of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s ruling coalition, has been accused of marginalizing non-Malay and non-Islamic groups in Malaysia, according to news reports.  

Zunar told CPJ that police interrogated him for several hours and asked about the cartoon’s political meaning; he added that he was not allowed to see the official police complaint sheet relating to his case.

CPJ emailed Muhammad’s office and the national attorney general’s office for comment, but did not immediately receive any replies.

Zunar, a 2015 winner of CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award, has previously faced harassment and legal threats over his work, as CPJ has documented.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

Yesterday, Turkish prosecutors charged Yücel, the former Turkey correspondent for the German newspaper Die Welt, with “publicly degrading the Turkish nation and the State of the Republic of Turkey” in two articles from 2016, according to news reports and a copy of the indictment, which CPJ reviewed.

The trial is scheduled to start on July 1 in Istanbul in Yücel’s absence, as he lives in Germany; if convicted, he could be issued a jail term of up to two years, according to those reports. Yücel tweeted yesterday that he stood by his writing.

“Turkish authorities are going out of their way to concoct new charges to harass Deniz Yücel, whose only crime was that he did his job as a member of the press,” said CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Gulnoza Said, in New York. “Authorities should drop the trumped-up charges against Yücel and end their vindictive campaign to stifle him and other reporters in the country.”

According to the indictment, Yücel “degraded” Turkey in two articles he published in Die Welt in 2016: one in which he used the term “genocide of the Armenians,” and another in which he repeated a well-known political joke about Turks and Kurds.

Yücel, a German-Turkish dual citizen, was previously imprisoned in Turkey from February 14, 2017, to February 16, 2018, pending an investigation into allegations of “propagandizing for a [terrorist] organization” and “provoking the people to hatred and animosity,” according to CPJ research; upon his release, he fled to Germany.

He was subsequently tried in absentia and acquitted of the provocation charge but convicted of propagandizing, and was sentenced to 2 years and 9 months in prison, according to CPJ’s reporting and reports, which said that he planned to appeal the ruling.

Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had publicly accused Yücel of being a member of the outlawed group PKK, a German agent, and a terrorist, as CPJ has documented.

CPJ emailed the Justice Ministry of Turkey for comment but did not immediately receive any reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.