Deterioration of press freedom in Egypt continues June 9, 2015 IPI Contributor Natalie Rowthorn Recent developments in Egypt, including the sentencing of two well-known journalists to prison and claims by supporters that a group of journalists condemned to life imprisonment were being held in inhumane conditions pending appeal, mark a further deterioration in media freedom, the International Press Institute (IPI) said today. In a press release last Wednesday, the […] Read more »
IPI report highlights need for defamation reform in Portugal June 9, 2015 Portugal needs to urgently update its defamation laws to meet international standards and the demands of modern democratic society, a report released today by the International Press Institute (IPI) concludes. Defamation and insult remain criminal offences in Portugal punishable by up to two years behind bars despite the fact that a number of international human rights […] Read more »
Court postpones Mazen Darwish’s court date again June 2, 2015 A Syrian judge yesterday postponed the trial of IPI World Press Freedom Hero Mazen Darwish again, but in a troubling move set no new court date. The development is particularly concerning given the fact that Darwish and his fellow imprisoned colleagues from the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) – Hussain Ghrer […] Read more »
Sudan seizes 10 newspapers Last Monday, Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) confiscated the print-runs of 10 daily newspapers in the morning without giving any reason – an action that came against the backdrop of an ongoing brutal security campaign against the freedoms of speech and the press in a country that consistently tops international lists of states […] Read more »
Angola journalist Rafael Marques convicted of defamation May 29, 2015 IPI Contributor Elena Pramesberger The International Press Institute (IPI) today condemned the suspended six-month prison sentence given to Angolan journalist Rafael Marques de Morais over his book outlining human rights abuses connected with the country’s diamond mining industry, saying the outcome represented “a cynical abuse of law”. A judge in Luanda yesterday issued the sentenced after finding Marques guilty […] Read more »
Cases proceed silently in Myanmar journalist’s 2014 killing May 28, 2015 IPI Contributor Artan Mustafa [content_boxes layout=”clean-horizontal” columns=”1″ icon_align=”left” title_size=”” backgroundcolor=”#e6eef0″ icon_circle=”” icon_circle_radius=”” iconcolor=”#e6eef0″ circlecolor=”#e6eef0″ circlebordercolor=”#e6eef0″ circlebordercolorsize=”” outercirclebordercolor=”#e6eef0″ outercirclebordercolorsize=”” icon_size=”” link_type=”” link_area=”” animation_delay=”” animation_offset=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”0″ class=”” id=””] [content_box title=”” icon=”” backgroundcolor=”#e6eef0″ iconcolor=”#000000″ circlecolor=”#e6eef0″ circlebordercolor=”” circlebordercolorsize=”” outercirclebordercolor=”” outercirclebordercolorsize=”” iconrotate=”” iconspin=”no” image=”” image_width=”35″ image_height=”35″ link=”” linktarget=”_self” linktext=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″] The following is the second in a series […] Read more »
IPI board blasts Turkey’s Erdogan over ‘death threat’ claim May 22, 2015 Members of the International Press Institute (IPI)’s Executive Board today called on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his supporters in the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to immediately halt a disingenuous campaign of vilification against the Doğan Media Group and its daily newspaper Hürriyet that has raged this week. The president and his […] Read more »
BBC team arrested after deviating from PR tour of World Cup facilities in Qatar May 21, 2015 IPI Contributor Artan Mustafa The role of the media is not to act as a public relations machine for governments, the International Press Institute (IPI) emphasised today following the dramatic arrest of a BBC reporting team in Qatar that had apparently deviated from an officially approved tour of migrant worker facilities. In a BBC blog post first published on […] Read more »
Jordan urged to meet pledges to end website licensing May 21, 2015 The International Press Institute (IPI) today welcomed remarks by the head of Jordan’s Media Commission and members of Parliament that they were open to changing a licensing scheme for news websites, but cautioned that the statements – which echoed similar, past comments by the government – need to be followed by concrete action. The Media […] Read more »
Journalism in post-earthquake Nepal: Q&A with Krishna Sapkota May 20, 2015 The Nepal earthquake of April 2015, with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale, was the deadliest in the country’s recorded history and caused massive destruction. More than 8,000 people were killed and tens of thousands were left injured, homeless and severely traumatized. The earthquake and its more than 120 major aftershocks – many […] Read more »
Groups raise alarm over whereabouts of imprisoned Syrian journalist Mazen Darwish May 20, 2015 The International Press Institute (IPI) today said it was deeply concerned for the well-being of three detained Syrian human-rights defenders, including journalist and IPI World Press Freedom Hero Mazen Darwish, who local activists say have been unaccounted for since early this month. Darwish, the founding president of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression […] Read more »
IPI–Article 19 mission to Lithuania calls for stronger libel reform May 12, 2015 A defamation reform bill pending before the Lithuanian Parliament would constitute a welcome step in the right direction, but should be further amended to meet international standards, the International Press Institute (IPI) and Article 19 said today following a joint two-day mission to Lithuania. The bill, which passed Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee last month, would […] Read more »
Murder shows alarming state of press freedom in Mexico May 11, 2015 IPI Contributor Elena Pramesberger The killing of yet another journalist calls attention to Mexico’s alarming state of press freedom, the International Press Institute (IPI) said today. Reporter and radio presenter Armando Saldaña Morales, 53 was found dead near the bank of a stream in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca on May 4. According to local newspapers, he was […] Read more »
Egypt journalists facing life, death sentences have difficulty appealing May 7, 2015 IPI Contributor Artan Mustafa Thirteen journalists sentenced to life in prison last month in Egypt and one sentenced to death plan to appeal the Cairo court’s ruling – but are constrained from doing so because they still have not seen that ruling in full, a representative of their families told the International Press Institute (IPI). The details of the […] Read more »
Myanmar’s promised ‘irreversible reform’ not yet visible May 2, 2015 IPI Contributor Artan Mustafa [content_boxes layout=”clean-horizontal” columns=”1″ icon_align=”left” title_size=”” backgroundcolor=”#e6eef0″ icon_circle=”” icon_circle_radius=”” iconcolor=”#e6eef0″ circlecolor=”#e6eef0″ circlebordercolor=”#e6eef0″ circlebordercolorsize=”” outercirclebordercolor=”#e6eef0″ outercirclebordercolorsize=”” icon_size=”” link_type=”” link_area=”” animation_delay=”” animation_offset=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”0″ class=”” id=””] [content_box title=”” icon=”” backgroundcolor=”#e6eef0″ iconcolor=”#000000″ circlecolor=”#e6eef0″ circlebordercolor=”” circlebordercolorsize=”” outercirclebordercolor=”” outercirclebordercolorsize=”” iconrotate=”” iconspin=”no” image=”” image_width=”35″ image_height=”35″ link=”” linktarget=”_self” linktext=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″] The following, released to mark World Press Freedom […] Read more »
Free expression in Europe – between hypocrisy and routine Lea este artículo en español Freedom of expression is an assumed right in the European Union. But that assumption is little more than an idea anchored in our mental routine. We hardly consider the difficulties that freedom of expression runs into in practice. In the first trimester of 2015, for example, more than a third […] Read more »
Slovenia campaign takes aim at criminal defamation laws April 23, 2015 The Slovene Association of Journalists (DNS) today launched a campaign, supported by the International Press Institute (IPI) and its affiliate the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), to reform Slovenia’s defamation laws as well as criminal provisions related to the publication of classified information. The campaign was announced during a joint press conference with DNS […] Read more »
Sri Lanka’s 100 day reform period bows out with weak results for media freedom Today officially marks the end of an ambitious 100-day reform period announced by Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena shortly after snatching a surprise victory over former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa in the country’s Jan. 8 presidential vote. Rajapaksa was once hailed both at home and abroad for bringing Sri Lanka’s long-running civil war to a close […] Read more »
IPI urges investigation of murders of Ukrainian journalists April 22, 2015 IPI Contributor Artan Mustafa The International Press Institute (IPI) today called upon Ukrainian authorities to immediately investigate the murders of journalists Oles Buzina and Sergey Sukhobok. According to news reports, Buzina was killed by two masked men at 1:20 p.m. on April 16, while jogging near his home in Kiev. Aged 45, he was an author and TV presenter […] Read more »
Chinese court hands journalist Gao Yu seven-year sentence April 17, 2015 The International Press Institute (IPI) today condemned a Chinese court decision sentencing veteran investigative journalist and IPI World Press Freedom Hero Gao Yu to seven years in prison for allegedly leaking state secrets. “This disturbing decision – which punishes a journalist for allegedly sharing materials highlighting the ideology behind Beijing’s policies, information undoubtedly of public […] Read more »
Syria court again postpones Mazen Darwish case April 16, 2015 A Syrian anti-terrorism court yesterday again postponed proceedings in the case against International Press Institute (IPI) World Press Freedom Hero Mazen Darwish, founder of the Syria Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM). The next court date is scheduled for April 28, the SCM said in a statement noting that the court gave no reason […] Read more »
Greek investigative journalist sentenced to prison for libel April 13, 2015 The International Press Institute (IPI) and the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an IPI affiliate, today condemned a Greek court ruling sentencing prominent investigative journalist Kostas Vaxevanis to 26 months in prison for libel. A court in Athens on March 30 found Vaxevanis guilty of criminally defaming well-known Greek businessman Andreas Vgenopoulos. According to […] Read more »
IPI calls on Malaysia to repeal Sedition Act amid wave of journalist arrests April 7, 2015 Malaysia should repeal its colonial-era Sedition Act, the International Press Institute (IPI) said today amid a wave of criminal sedition cases against journalists and commentators that observers say are intended to intimidate critical voices into silence. Most recently, a Kuala Lumpur court on Friday charged a well-known political cartoonist with nine separate counts of sedition, defined […] Read more »
Nigerian military releases Al Jazeera journalists April 7, 2015 The Nigerian military has released two Al Jazeera journalists it had confined to a hotel in northeastern Nigeria for over a week, Al Jazeera confirmed in a statement. The network indicated that the two men, Ahmed Idris and Ali Mustapha, had returned to its bureau in Abuja, the Nigerian capital. The pair was reportedly freed […] Read more »
IPI urges release of Bahraini rights activist Nabeel Rajab after new arrest April 2, 2015 Leading Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab was arrested today at 3 p.m. (GMT +2) at his home, reportedly for tweeting on alleged instances of torture at Bahrain’s Jaw prison. According to Nedal Al Salman, a colleague of Rajab’s at the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, police surrounded Rajab’s home and escorted him away in […] Read more »
In Mexico, a last bastion of press freedom falls March 29, 2015 IPI Digital Media Coordinator Javier Luque Lea este artículo en español The murder of photojournalist Rubén Espinosa together with four women in Mexico City on July 31 was devastating for the many Mexican journalists who have sought refuge in the streets of the capital, fleeing from death threats in their home states. “The sense of fragility is very large,” says Daniela […] Read more »
IPI World Congress honours Syrian, Mexican journalists “Freedom of expression and its defence is a duty, and defending it with words is a form of resistance”, the wife of imprisoned Syrian lawyer and activist Mazen Darwish told attendees of the International Press Institute (IPI)’s 2015 World Congress in Myanmar yesterday as she accepted IPI’s 2015 World Press Freedom Hero Award on his […] Read more »
Address by Yara Bader, on behalf of Mazen Darwish Ladies and gentlemen, I will start with some words published by Mazen Darwish in 2007. “Today we can’t talk about concepts like democracy or transparency or pluralism without talking about the freedom of the media. Despite the attempts by some to separate the two, it is impossible to have genuine and complete democratic reform in […] Read more »
Address by Daniela Pastrana, Periodistas de a Pie Lea este discurso en español My country, Mexico, is a country in which an attack on journalists is reported every 26 hours. Since 2000, a year of political transition, 82 journalists have been killed and 17 more have disappeared. Fear and silence have taken root in a large part of the country. Mexico, together with […] Read more »
IPI General Assembly Resolution 2015: Myanmar The members of the International Press Institute, meeting at their 64th Annual General Assembly during the IPI World Congress on March 28, 2015 in Yangon, Myanmar, adopted by unanimous vote a resolution calling on Myanmar’s government to recommit itself to a process of full democratisation and respect for the fundamental human rights of free expression […] Read more »
IPI special report finds ‘Democracy at Risk’ in Turkey March 27, 2015 Turkish authorities’ failure to safeguard – and, in some cases, their active steps to undermine – the right to share and receive information has led to serious deficiencies in the country’s democracy, placing its future at serious risk, a special report released today by the International Press Institute (IPI) concludes. The report, “Democracy at Risk” […] Read more »
IPI General Assembly Resolution 2017: Zambia The members of the International Press Institute (IPI), meeting at their 66th Annual General Assembly during the IPI World Congress on May 20, 2017 in Hamburg, Germany, adopted by unanimous vote a resolution calling on Zambia to end its harassment and persecution targeting independent media, particularly the newspaper The Post and its successor, The Mast. […] Read more »
IPI General Assembly Resolution 2017: Turkey The members of the International Press Institute (IPI), meeting at their 66th Annual General Assembly during the IPI World Congress on May 20, 2017 in Hamburg, Germany adopted by unanimous vote a resolution calling on Turkey to free imprisoned journalists and to restore judicial independence and the rule of law. In the wake of the […] Read more »
