CLOSE

Media Defence publishes 2014 Annual Review

Media Defence publishes 2014 Annual Review

This year, with the imprisonment of three Al Jazeera journalists in Egypt on false news charges, press freedom issues made headlines around the world. News coverage of this scale is rare, but the sentences are not: oppressive governments around the world are increasingly using false news, criminal libel and national security laws to criminalise free speech.

For cases like this we provide emergency support, but we also take a principled stance and try to have the laws that allow these cases to be overturned. We do this by appealing to constitutional courts or international courts such as the European Court of Human Rights and the East African Court of Justice. In the review you can read about our work on a case that has been brought before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

At the heart of what we do is a belief that journalists, bloggers and independent media must have access to the best possible legal support and the necessary financial support to defend themselves when cases are brought against them. Defending journalists and others who report on issues of real public interest will continue to be a priority for us. For example, in Cambodia we supported a radio journalist who was accused by the Government of inciting hatred by reporting on issues of deforestation and land rights, and in India we are helping a medical publisher defend a case brought against him by a large Danish pharmaceutical company after he reported that drugs being marketed were not licensed for use in India.

As we look ahead, we expect to see more cases like the one we explore in the review where we support Bytes for All in their efforts to overturn the ban on YouTube in Pakistan. Internet censorship is a growing problem. As well as blocking entire platforms such as YouTube, many Governments are singling out individuals. For example, in Malaysia and Singapore the Prime Ministers are now personally suing bloggers and online media, while in Russia a new law requires popular bloggers to register with the Government.

Our long-term goal is to strengthen media legal defence capacity around the world by making sure that journalists can access local support when they need it. We do this by supporting individual cases, assisting groups to set up media defence centres within their countries and providing training to build legal expertise. Our partnerships with media defence centres across Asia, Europe and Africa provide the funding and strategic support needed to build the capacity of these organisations.

To find out more download the review.

 

Attached files:
PDF icon MLDI 2014 Annual Review

Recent News

Media Defence Condemns Detention of Lawyer and Human Rights Defender Ruth López in El Salvador

Media Defence condemns the arrest of Ruth López, Chief Legal Officer at the human rights organisation Cristosal in El Salvador. López is a renowned lawyer and human rights defender. Her work exposing corruption and human rights abuses has earned national and international recognition, including being named one of the BBC’s 100 most inspiring women of […]

Read

UN Working Group finds Viet Nam is Unlawfully Detaining Journalist Nguyễn Lân Thắng

In an Opinion published in late 2024, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) held that the detention of independent journalist Nguyễn Lân Thắng is  arbitrary and in contravention of his rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Media Defence represented […]

Read

Stronger Together: Working with Funded Partners in 2024

Established in 2009 our Funded Partner programme supports local legal centres worldwide that focus on the defence of journalists.

Read