August 9th, 2012
Two Italian journalists have been
sentenced to four months in prison and fined 15,000 Euros (11,700 GBP) for
libel. Orfeo Donatini and Tiziano Marson, of newspaper Alto Adige, were convicted in June of alleging in a 2008 article that local politician Sven Knoll had taken part in a neo-Nazi summit. The claim was based on a police report and appeared in weekly magazine L’Espresso. Knoll lodged a criminal defamation complaint, and although the journalists were acquitted, the case was reviewed by the court of cassation and referred back to the Bolzano city tribunal. In a
statement, press freedom organisation
Article 19 said criminal defamation provisions in Italy’s Penal Code were “incompatible” with international standards of freedom of expression.
April 3rd, 2012
A
Peruvian appeals court
has overturned a criminal defamation conviction against a journalist who reported on local corruption. The court found that the decision against radio journalist Teobaldo Meléndez Fachín contained “substantial errors” in the earlier conviction. The journalist was given a three year suspended sentence and a fine of around US $11,000, after reporting that a local mayor had misused a government loan of over US $2m. Fachín reported that local mayor Juan Daniel Mesía Camus used the loan for projects which benefited his political allies.
June 3rd, 2011
The United Nations special rapporteur for free expression Frank La Rue has called for the abolition of criminal defamation laws. Guatemalan lawyer La Rue also condemned the use of “national security” reasons to curb free expression:
In a
report released today, LaRue comments:
The Special Rapporteur reiterates the call to all States to decriminalize defamation. Additionally, he underscores that protection of national security or countering terrorism cannot be used to justify restricting the right to expression unless it can be demonstrated that: (a) the expression is intended to incite imminent violence; (b) it is likely to incite such violence; and (c) there is a direct and immediate connection between the expression and the likelihood or occurrence of such violence.
Criminal defamation cases are frequently brought to silence criticism of authorities. Recent examples include actions brought against journalist
Art Troitsky in Russia and anti death penalty campaigner
Alan Shadrake in Singapore.
May 17th, 2011
Russian rock journalist Art Troitsky’s caustic tongue has landed him in court in four separate libel cases. Emily Butselaar reports
(more…)
April 20th, 2011
A local city councillor in the
Philippines has brought two criminal defamation charges against a radio journalist. Alberto Loyola
, who works for Radio DxRJ, was
arrested on 18 April and has since been released on bail. Chonilo Ruiz brought the charges after Loyola accused him of lying about the city budget. If convicted Loyola could face up to six years in jail.
