Hopes that India’s Supreme Court would strike down laws criminalising defamation were dashed last month when the Court, upholding the laws, opined: “‘Reputation’ of one cannot be allowed to be crucified at the altar of the other’s right of free speech.” Rejecting claims that criminal defamation laws damage free speech, the Court refused to recognise […]

“We were sitting in a coffee shop [in Doha, Qatar], the lawyer and myself, and by chance another Egyptian was passing by the coffee shop,” Egyptian journalist Ibrahim Helal recounts. “He was also sentenced [in Egypt in absentia].” Helal continues: “We started to make jokes – you introduce yourself to me, I’m Egyptian, you’re Egyptian, […]

The International Press Institute (IPI) today condemned Bahrain’s arrest of prominent human rights defender Nabeel Rajab on charges of “spreading false news and rumours about the internal situation in a bid to discredit Bahrain” and it called for his immediate and unconditional release. Rajab, who is the president and co-founder of the Bahrain Center for […]

The International Press Institute (IPI) today joined 28 other members of IFEX in calling on Tongan Prime Minister Samuela ʻAkilisi Pohiva to end the harassment of local journalist Viola Ulakai and to cease threats to have her suspended. Ulakai, head of programmes and news at the publicly-owned Tonga Broadcasting Commission (TBC), had been urging the […]