STATEMENT
ICTY: Hartmann arrest warrant undermines tribunals moral authority
ARTICLE 19 is profoundly concerned that the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia - created to try war criminals and those responsible for crimes against humanity - has ordered a seven-day prison sentence and issued an international arrest warrant for French author, Florence Hartmann. The case is a perversion of international justice and undermines the right to freedom of expression. Read more > En Francais >SUBMISSIONS
UN Universal Periodic Review submissions for Brazil, Philippines
ARTICLE 19 raised with the UN major concerns for freedom of expression in Brazil include restrictive legislation on the operation of the media and freedom of expression, internet policy, misuse of defamation and desacato laws, violence against journalists, and freedom of information violations concerning the right to truth and large-scale development projects.
Read more >For the Philippines, ARTICLE 19 reported to the UN concern about violence against individuals exercising free speech - and the culture of impunity - the absence of a right to information law, and the use of criminal defamation laws to silence critics.
Read more >LEGAL ANALYSIS
Rwanda: President Kagame must reject Draft Penal Code
Presented with the option of either accepting or rejecting the draft penal code, ARTICLE 19 urges President Kagame to guarantee freedom of expression in Rwanda by rejecting and returning it to parliament.
Read more >STATEMENT
Russia: Six reasons why defamation reform fails to protect free expression
Recent amendments to Russia’s defamation legislation - including partial decriminalisation of libel and insult - will not improve the situation for journalists and the media in the country. Despite the amendments, the state retains its powers to control speech by introducing administrative responsibility for libel and insult.
Read more >PRESS RELEASE
Azerbaijan: Justice for killed journalist Rafiq Tagi
Prominent Azerbaijani journalist and writer, Rafiq Tagi, died in Baku from the injuries he sustained during a brutal knife attack four days earlier. Rafiq died on 23 November – the world’s first International Day to End Impunity
Read more >AZAD TRIBUNE
Farce fiction
Iran Police Chief, Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam, while claiming there are no civil rights in the "West", has said that insubordination to a commander is insubordination to the Prophet.
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All the president's men
The daily newspaper,
Iran was raided last week and its editor arrested.
Iran appeared the day after with a blank headline presenting a picture of its building and noting the arrest of its editor Javanfekr and 39 staff members.
Read more >LETTER
Belarus: Condemn the sentence for Ales Bialiatski
We resolutely condemn the court verdict to sentence Ales Bialiatski to 4.5 years imprisonment with confiscation of his properties.
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