A federal court has overturned a ruling that journalist’s from Contralínea weekly had caused moral harm to several executives for stories alleging contract irregularities with the state oil company Pemex, Misión Política reports.
Bolivian journalist Luis Zabala Farell, who had been in prison since Jan. 17 for allegedly instigating violence on his radio show, was freed Thursday, April 14, but is not allowed to discuss his case, El Diario reports.
The Parliamentary Front for Freedom of Expression and the Right to Communication with Popular Participation was launched by Brazilian lawmakers on April 19, Agência Câmara dos Deputados reports.
Paraguay journalism groups have denounced what they call the “persecutory attitude” of the management at Canal 9 TV Cerro Corá in their actions against its employees, which came to a peak when the station abruptly canceled a news show after 17 years on the air, Paraguay.com reports.
Last week the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) released a report criticizing the use of libel laws in Ecuador to silence critical speech, prompting Ecuador to reject the report, saying the commission was acting outside of its jurisdiction, Terra reports.
Italian journalist and professor Giovanni Proiettis, a resident of the southern Mexican state of Chiapas for 18 years, was summarily deported back to his home country April 15, Proceso reports.
In 2010 there were only 19 attacks against journalists and media outlets in Guatemala – a sharp decline from 60 and 69 in 2009 and 2008, respectively – however a Cerigua study shows that self-censorship is rising in areas affected by drug trafficking, Prensa Libre reports.
Journalist Luis Zabala Farell, who has been in jail since January on charges of instigating violence on his radio show, has said his accusers are intentionally delaying his hearings to keep him in prison and off the air, Bolivia’s National Press Association (ANP) reports via IFEX.
Guilherme Mendes, Carlos Batista, and Edmilson Luz for TV Liberal were arrested in the city of Acará, Pará, while reporting on complaints by users at a local health clinic, Portal ORM reports.
Gabriela Weber is a German radio correspondent based in Buenos Aires, who investigated the alleged theft of children by a U.S. diplomat during the Argentine military dictatorship (1976-1983). According to the journalist, the United States has permanently denied her request for an entrance visa, EFE reports.
In another case of court-ordered censorship in Brazil, journalist Esmael Morais’ blog was taken down at the request of the governor of Paraná state, Beto Richa, Folha de São Paulo reports. The politician’s suit against the blog began during the 2010 electoral campaign season, when Morais posted a video comparing Richa to Adolf Hitler.
The United States Department of State’s 2010 Human Rights Report says the relationship between the press and the government of Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa “continued to deteriorate” last year, EFE reports.