negative court ruling
Wednesday 13.1.2021 Macedonia - Latest Developments -
Skopje court fails to protect journalists as they continue to come under attack
Around 2,000 demonstrators gathered in an anti-government protest, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Zoran Zaev. The protest, which was staged by supporters of the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, was in reaction to an interview of the PM in which he commented on the history between Bulgaria and North Macedonia. The Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM) condemned the decision of the Basic Civil Court in Skopje after it rejected the lawsuits of two journalists against the alleged violation of their rights by the state. The case centres around the events of the 2017 “Bloody Thursday” at Parliament where journalists were insulted and beaten. The decision comes amid a number of attacks against journalists. Read more
Friday 18.12.2020 Brazil - Latest Developments -
Closing civic space in Brazil: censorship, harassment and attacks on journalists and activists
In November 2020, Brazil held countrywide local elections to elect city councillors and mayors. Politically-motivated attacks and assassinations increased by nearly 200 percent in 2020 in comparison to previous years. Read more
Tuesday 1.12.2020 Spain - Latest Developments -
Protests over COVID-19 measures amid a second wave; red flag raised over social media proposal
During the second wave of the pandemic, several protests broke out throughout Europe against COVID-19 measures introduced. Following the announcement of tougher measures, protests occurred in several big cities such as Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. These protests have turned violent and, in some cases, have led to the arrest of protesters. In a separate development, journalists have reported that the Ministry of Interior is preventing them from taking photos of the arrival of refugees in the Canary Islands and thereby making it challenging to inform the public about current developments. In a concerning development, the Interior Committee of the Congress approved Podemos’ proposal to ban hate speech on social media. The initiative has been met with reluctance among opposition parties, jurists and freedom of expression experts. The proposal obliges digital platforms to police hate speech and invites them to censor online content.
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Thursday 19.11.2020 Peru - Latest Developments -
Upheaval in Peru as president removed
On 9th November 2020, president Martín Vizcarra was removed from office by Peru’s Congress over corruption allegations. Lawmakers voted 105-19 in favour of Vizcarra’s impeachment on the basis of a controversial “moral incapacitation” clause in the country’s legislation, which is set to be evaluated by the Constitutional Court. Read more | Read in Spanish
Saturday 31.10.2020 Ecuador - Latest Developments -
Indigenous groups' rights violated in loss of land and livelihood to oil spill
On 29 September, police detained a group of Indigenous Kichwa people for three hours. The group had attempted to file a complaint with the Judiciary Council regarding the effects of an April 2020 oil spill in rivers of the Amazon that had impacted the lands and communities of more than 27,000 Indigenous peoples. Read more | Read in Spanish
Saturday 31.10.2020 Mozambique - Latest Developments -
Activists and journalists subjected to threats, offices independent weekly set on fire
Since the most recent Monitor update on Mozambique, the country held local elections on 10 October 2018 and general elections on 15 October 2019. Civil society actors monitoring the elections and journalists reporting on them were subjected to threats and arbitrary arrests. Read more
Thursday 29.10.2020 Guatemala - Latest Developments -
Judicial harassment of journalist and attacks against Indigenous rights defenders in Guatemala
On 11th September 2020, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) condemned the murders of and attacks against Indigenous and land rights defenders and their allies. Read more
Tuesday 6.10.2020 Tajikistan - Latest Developments -
Cover-up and downplay of COVID-19; massive restrictions on expression
On 30th April 2020, the Tajikistani authorities finally confirmed the first infections of the coronavirus but persisted in blaming the media for “spreading panic” among the population through its COVID-19 reporting. Since then, the number of officially confirmed deaths has been consistently lower than estimates from civil society. On 4th July 2020 President Rahmon signed into law new legislation regarding “false information” about the coronavirus, with serious implications for freedom of expression in Tajikistan. An initial consequence of the newly adopted law is that there are far fewer discussions about the pandemic situation in the media and on social media networks. There have been ongoing reports of physical attacks on journalists by unidentified individuals in Tajikistan. The authorities continue to crack down on political opponents. Read more
Saturday 3.10.2020 Nigeria - Latest Developments -
Journalists attacked while covering protests
On 1 October, Nigeria celebrated 60 years of independence. On the day of the country's anniversary, the Coalition for Revolution (CORE) organised protests across the country under the campaign #RevolutionNow. Demonstrators gathered to express discontent over issues of poor governance and increases in electricity and fuel prices. During the protests, police assaulted a photojournalist with Punch newspaper and arrested up to 60 demonstrators. Read more
Wednesday 9.9.2020 Yemen - Latest Developments -
Journalists under constant attack; four journalists sentenced to death after grossly unfair trial
The Specialised Criminal Court in Sana'a sentences four journalists (Akram Al-Walidi, Abdelkhaleq Amran, Hareth Hamid and Tawfiq Al-Mansouri) to death and six others to jail terms; Security forces in Marib Governorate released photojournalist Radwan Al-Hashedi, after he was arrested on 8th July 2020 upon arrival at Sayyun Airport; 30 people who were tried for expressing their opinions on issues of public interest and for their criticism of the de facto Houthi government sentenced to death while 6 are acquitted Read more
