A bill has been passed in the Maldives parliament that abolishes five articles from the Penal Code that provided for criminal defamation. Read more here
Defamation decriminalised in the Maldives
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Index on Censorship
UN calls for release of Gambian journalist
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has called on the Gambian government to release journalist Chief Ebrimah Manneh, citing his arrest and detention as being without legal justification and in breach of international law. Manneh was a young...
Azerbaijan: donkey bloggers punished
The imprisonment of two online activists shows the battle for democracy is increasingly fought online, says
Vugar Gojayev
Egypt: graphic novel author and publisher fined
Author Magdi El Shafai and his publisher Mohamed El Sahrqawi were fined 5,000 Egyptian pounds for the publication of graphic novel Metro. The court ruling, on 21 November, deemed the two men guilty of “making and publishing something that was...
"Darkest hour in Philippine journalism"
Harry Roque: The Maguindanao massacre was a violation of the elementary rules of humanity
Singapore: magazine ordered to pay damages to prime minister
The Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER), which is due to close next month, was ordered to pay Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew a total of S$405,000 (US$290,000) in damages and costs for defamation. The journal’s...
Philippines: 21 killed in pre-election violence
Twenty-one politicians and journalists who were abducted in the southern Philippines have been found dead. A convoy of about 40 people was hijacked by 100 gunmen at a police checkpoint in Maguindanao province, on the island of Mindanao. The group...
Brazilian bloggers censored
Brazilian judge, Pedro Sakamoto has prohibited bloggers Enock Cavalcanti and Adriana Vandoni from reporting on injunctions issued against politician José Riva. Vandoni and Cavalcanti, both from the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, reported on an...
Turkey: restrictions on Kurdish broadcasting lifted
A government directive published on 13 November lifted all remaining restrictions on the media’s use of minority languages. The use of Kurdish had been allowed in public printed media and one public TV station, TRT6. However, privately-owned radio...
Libel reform will liberate us all
Jack Straw’s move is welcome, but cosmetic surgery won’t be enough to end this international embarrassment, writes
Jo Glanville
Libel reform: the way to publish and not be damned
John Kampfner has a solution to England’s pernicious libel laws
Straw commits to libel reform
The Justice Secretary is reported to have pledged to make English defamation laws fairer. Index on Censorship reports