Karinna Moskalenko, Russian human rights lawyer and international advisory board member of the UK-based Media Legal Defence Initiative, is the latest addition to an already strong line-up of speakers and panellists slated to take part in the annual IPI World Congress 2013 in Amman, Jordan.

Moskalenko has taken numerous cases to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, winning the first ever case against the Russian Federation heard in public hearings at the Court. She has represented a number of high-profile clients, including  the family of slain journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

She is on the board of the Media Legal Defence Initiative, a non-governmental organisation that provides legal aid and assistance to journalists and independent media outlets around the world.

Moskalenko will join moderator Wesley Gibbings, president of the Association of Caribbean MediaWorkers, and fellow panellists Anthony Fargo, director of the Centre for International Media Law and Policy Studies, Indiana University School of Journalism (USA), and Kwame Karikari, executive director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (Ghana), in a session titled, “The Case Against Criminal Defamation”, on Monday, May 20, 2013.

The panel will address the pressing need to abolish criminal defamation laws worldwide. Even in countries where they are not frequently applied, criminal defamation laws can have an intimidating effect, often leading to self-censorship among the media and investigative reporters in particular. Their continued existence on the books in many developed countries only serves to embolden repressive regimes around the world to use criminal defamation as a tool for silencing criticism and dissent.

Check our website for the full programme and a list of speakers.

To register for the IPI World Congress today: