Media Defence intervenes at ECtHR in case concerning costs regime in English defamation cases
Media Defence has submitted a third party intervention at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the case of Malkiewicz and others v UK. The case relates to a defamation action brought against the applicants over an article published in a Polish language newspaper based in London. The proceedings lasted around six years, and went […]
Italian journalist who published menswear company executives’ payslips acquitted of privacy violation charges
The Criminal Court of Pescara, Italy, has held that reporter Mauro D’Agostino did not breach the law by publishing payslips of executives at the top of a luxury menswear company. The context: top executives received large bonuses whilst hundreds of employees were fired D’Agostino worked for the online newspaper corrierequotidiano.it. In 2017, he wrote a […]
Digital Rights Advocates: Interview with Zambian Lawyer Michelle Mwiinga
Welcome to the Digital Rights Advocates Blog Series, where we hear from lawyers litigating digital rights in sub-Saharan Africa. Digital rights have become indispensable for people around the world to exercise and enjoy their fundamental rights. Independent media is increasingly moving online – from established newspapers and television channels to bloggers and human rights activists […]
Partners: How Human Rights Platform Has Used Strategic Litigation to Defend Press Freedom in Ukraine
Since 2017, Media Defence has worked in partnership with the Human Rights Platform (HRP), to provide legal defence to journalists and independent media in Ukraine and conduct strategic litigation on press freedom and freedom of expression. During the grant period, threats and attacks against journalists in Ukraine remained high. In particular, HRP noted an increase […]
Partners: Hanifi Baris of TOHAV on Defending Press Freedom in Turkey
Welcome to the latest instalment of our ‘Partners’ blog series. In this series, we interview some of our partners from around the world about their crucial and fascinating work in freedom of expression. This time, our Legal and Grants Officer Emmanuel Vargas spoke to lawyer Hanifi Baris of TOHAV (Toplum ve Hukuk Araştırmaları Vakfı/Foundation for […]
Digital Rights Advocates: Interview with Rwandan lawyer Louis Gitinywa
Welcome to the Digital Rights Advocates Blog Series, where we hear from lawyers litigating digital rights in sub-Saharan Africa. Digital rights have become indispensable for people around the world to exercise and enjoy their fundamental rights. Independent media is increasingly moving online – from established newspapers and television channels to bloggers and human rights activists […]
Digital Rights Advocates: Interview with Kenyan Lawyer Mercy Mutemi
Welcome to the Digital Rights Advocates blog series, where we hear from lawyers litigating digital rights in sub-Saharan Africa. Digital rights have become indispensable for people around the world to exercise and enjoy their fundamental rights. Independent media is increasingly moving online – from established newspapers and television channels to bloggers and human rights activists […]
Freedom of Expression in Eastern Europe: Hungary and Poland
Three journalists, two small tables and a coffee machine tucked away inside a building in downtown Pecs, Hungary. This is the bare-bones set-up of Szabad Pecs, a website that bills itself as the only independent news source in southwest Hungary. Their newsroom is sparse because it’s all they can afford. In recent years, the government […]
Partners: Interview With an Anonymous Azerbaijani Lawyer
Welcome to the second instalment of our ‘Partners’ blog series. In this series, we interview some of our partners from around the world about their crucial and fascinating work in freedom of expression. In Azerbaijan, there has been an ongoing crackdown against media freedom for many years. The constant harassment, intimidation and legal prosecution of […]
Citizen Journalist Elena Popa
In many respects, Elena Popa is a typical Romanian domestic carer working in Austria.
Press Freedom in Azerbaijan: ECtHR Delivers Judgment in the Case of Khadija Ismayilova
The European Court of Human Rights has delivered its judgment today in the case of award-winning investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova. The Court held that Azerbaijan had arbitrarily detained Khadija, in order to prevent her working as a journalist, and had violated her right to the presumption of innocence, when it arrested her on trumped up charges in December 2014 and held her in pre-trial detention until May 2016.
Digital Rights Advocates: Interview with Tonny Kirabira
Tonny Kirabira is a Ugandan lawyer and researcher who attended Media Defence’s 2018 East Africa Litigation Surgery as part of our Digital Rights Advocates Project. This project is funded by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the US State Department and aims to build the capacity of lawyers in Sub-Saharan Africa to […]