19 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost
A defamation case brought against the chief editor of Rodnoye Priyapovy, Sergei Shvedko, for doubting aspects of a 1930s famine has been squashed, creating a legal precedent. Businessman Vasily Kovalenko brought the case over an article that stated the Soviet famine — known as Holodomor— was not genocide against the Ukrainian people in particular. Kovalenko cited the constitution which outlaws Holodomor denial. But the court ruling stated Shevdko’s article “did not deny the fact of Holodomor” and was “subjective opinion”.
17 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost
Editor-in-chief of the Firat newspaper Hacı Boğatekin has been sentenced to five years in jail. Bogatekin was charged with “insult” and “defamation” and “attempting to influence a fair trial”. Three other journalists were charged with similar offences. In one of the offending articles Bogatekin argued that the real threat did not come from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party but from religious leader Fethullah Gülen’s congregation. He also published prosecutor Sadullah Ovacıklı’s criticism of his abbreviation of Gülen’s name to “Feto” and made allegations about the prosecutors relationship with Güle. Boğatekin was awarded the Press Freedom Award in 2008 and was awarded by the Contemporary Journalists’ Association (ÇGD) in 2009.
15 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
A new report has claimed that the Mongolian government routinely uses defamation legislation against journalists exposing corruption or abuses of power. Globe International conducted a study into 215 journalists working in the world’s most sparsely populated country, discovering that more than 60 per cent of defamation cases are initiated by politicians and public officials. The organisation also found that 50 per cent of the journalists questioned admitted to self-censoring.
2 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
Three Rwandan journalists have been found guilty of defaming two government ministers, in a move that has described by the Committee to Protect Journalists as an effort to silence critical journalism in the country. Former editor Charles Kabonero, acting editor-in-chief Didas Gasana, and reporter Richard Kayigamba of the private weekly newspaper Umuseso were sentenced to prison terms under Rwanda’s 2009 Media Law for a story highlighting an extramarital affair between the mayor of Kigali, Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, and Cabinet Affairs Minister Protais Musoni. The court did, however, turn down a request from the prosecution for the newspaper to be banned. Umuseso has previously been found guilty of libel after publishing an article about the parliamentary deputy speaker Denis Polisi’s political ambitions in 2004.
