Media Defence Files Intervention at Warsaw Court in Defamation Case Brought by Municipality
Media Defence has filed an intervention before the Third Division of the Warsaw District Court. The case has been brought by the Podkowa Lesna municipality against an environmental organisation called the Association of Cultural and Landscape Heritage, known as “Dendropolis”. The case concerns a civil defamation lawsuit brought by the municipality. It is in response […]
Media Defence Files Intervention Before Constitutional Court of Colombia in MOVICE Case
Media Defence has filed an intervention before the Constitutional Court of Colombia, in the case of Marcos Evangelista Pinto v. National Movement of Victims of State Crimes (MOVICE). The case concerns a mural painted by MOVICE activists in Bogotá, which referred to the magnitude of extrajudicial killings carried out by the Colombian Army from 2000 […]
European Court Finds Turkey Violated Cumhuriyet Journalists’ Rights to Liberty and Security, Freedom of Expression, Detained in the Crackdown Following July 2016 Coup
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that Turkey violated the Article 5(1)(c) and 10 rights of ten journalists working at the prominent Turkish newspaper, Cumhuriyet. The journalists were arrested and detained in the government crackdown following the July 2016 attempted coup. Media Defence intervened as a third party in the case, along […]
UN Working Group Confirms Involvement of Thailand and Viet Nam in Unlawful Rendition and Detention of Vietnamese Journalist
In an Opinion published today, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (the UNWGAD) has found Thailand and Viet Nam responsible for the unlawful rendition and detention of prominent Vietnamese investigative journalist and blogger Truong Duy Nhat. Importantly, the UNWGAD recognised that Mr Nhat’s case follows a familiar pattern of incommunicado detention, prosecution under vague laws, […]
Media Defence Files Petition with UNWGAD Seeking Release of Tsi Conrad
Media Defence has filed a Petition with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) seeking the immediate and unconditional release of Tsi Conrad, a freelance journalist, who has been sentenced to 15 years in prison under anti-terrorism laws in Cameroon Tsi Conrad has been in detention since 8 December 2016. At the time of […]
Explaining the Issues: Internet Shutdowns
In Media Defence’s Explaining the Issues series, we provide an overview of legal issues faced by the media. See other blogs in the series here. What are Internet shutdowns? Around the world, repressive governments often disrupt or ‘shut down’ Internet services in their countries in order to prevent members of the general public from accessing […]
Media Defence Files Amicus Curiae Brief Before Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice on the Use of Force During Protests
On 22 September 2020, Media Defence filed an amicus curiae brief before Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice, in a case challenging the constitutionality of the country’s national Law on the Use of Force. The brief, filed together with Article 19 (Office for Mexico and Central America), examines international legal standards governing the use of force, […]
Presentación de Amicus Curiae Ante la SCNJ, Sobre el Uso de la Fuerza Pública Durante Protestas
El 22 de septiembre, las organizaciones no gubernamentales Media Defence y ARTICLE 19, oficina para México y Centroamérica, presentamos un Amicus Curiae ante la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación, con motivo de la discusión que tendrá lugar en la Corte sobre la constitucionalidad de la Ley Nacional del Uso de la Fuerza. La […]
Colombian Supreme Court Clarifies Rules Around Protection of Human Rights During Social Protests
On 22 September 2020, the Supreme Court of Colombia handed down judgment condemning the violent repression of anti-government protests in November 2019, during which security forces attacked, arrested and detained protesters, human rights defenders and journalists reporting on the national demonstrations. The Court ruled on a tutela*, filed by several citizens and civil society organisations, […]
African Commission finds Rwandan Authorities Violated Journalists’ Right to Freedom of Expression
The African Commission of Human and People’s Rights has found that Rwanda violated the right to freedom of expression of two journalists, Agnes Uwimana Nkusi and Saidati Mukakibi, after they were convicted and imprisoned on national security offences for publishing a series of articles criticising the Rwandan Government and President Paul Kagame. Ms Uwimana was […]
Landmark Judgment: ECOWAS Court Finds Togo Violated FoE with Internet Shutdown
On June 25th 2020, the ECOWAS Court handed down an important decision for freedom of expression, digital rights, and press freedom, finding that Togo, by shutting down the Internet in 2017, violated the rights of the plaintiffs – seven Togolese NGOs and a journalist. The Court awarded damages to the plaintiffs, and ordered Togo to put […]
Strasbourg Court Finds Hungary Violated Journalists’ Right of Access to Parliament
The ECtHR has held today that Hungary violated the Article 10 freedom of expression rights of six journalists who, in April 2016, were subject to an indefinite ban preventing them from entering the premises of Hungary’s Parliament to carry out their work. The ban was imposed by the Speaker of Parliament due to the journalists’ […]