05 Sep 11 | Index Index, minipost
In what is reportedly the first time that a Philippine Supreme Court justice has filed a libel case against anyone including a journalist, reporter Marites Danguilan Vitug was forced to post P10,000 (145 GBP) bail on Friday on charges that she had defamed Supreme Court Justice Presbitero Velasco in a recent book. In the book, Shadow of Doubt, Vitug quoted residents of the Marinduque constituency as saying the Supreme Court justice was active in inviting two local officials to run with his son as councillor and promising to underwrite campaign expenses.
01 Sep 11 | Uncategorized
Local authorities in the UK use the uncertainty around England’s archaic libel law to silence criticism of their actions. Michael Harris reports
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24 Aug 11 | Index Index, minipost
Three journalists from TV station Canal 9 in Paraguay, and the ex-director of the National Television System, Ismael Hadid, are on trial for defamation and libel. Reporter Silvio Cuevas, host Yolanda Park, and the channel’s press director, Andrés Caballero, were sued by a lawyer, Evelio Fabio Salinas, after Cuevas in May 2010 interviewed a woman who accused the lawyer of falsifying birth certificates in order to facilitate adoptions.
16 Jun 11 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Andrey Pochobut, a correspondent for the Polish newspaper GazetaWyborcza who stands accused of defamation and “insulting the president”, is facing a four-year prison sentence. The trial began yesterday in Leninski district court, Belarus, with journalists and family members excluded from proceedings. There are now serious concerns over whether Pochobut will receive a fair trial. The offending articles appeared on the Gazeta Wyborcza website, the Belaruspartisan.org site and in his personal blog. Pochobut would be the fourth journalist sent to prison on a charge of “insulting the president” if he is found guilty. The trial continues.
