Confronted with the outcry from journalists and the media over the unprecedented banning of two journalists condemned of defamation from working for one year, the president of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, said he is committed to freedom of expression and promised to pardon both journalists, reported EFE and Crítica.
Former President Álvaro Uribe has assumed “legal and political responsibility” for actions taken by his former chief of staff, Bernardo Moreno, one of nine former senior officials sanctioned for the espionage scandal involving wiretaps and illegal surveillance of judges, opponents, and journalists, Colombia Reports, Associated Press, and El Espectador report.
A federal appeals court has overturned the acquittal of Sabrina Bacal and Justino González in separate suits for libel and injury. They were both sentenced to 12 months in prison and banned from practicing journalism for a year Hora Cero reports.
Laureano Márquez will be one of the journalists to receive an International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Project Journalists (CPJ) in November for having “risked their freedom and security to report the truth as they see it in their countries.”
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN–IFRA) has urged President Cristina Fernández to respect international standards of freedom of expression and to cease “the attacks by her government against independent media,” La Gaceta de Tucumán reports. See the association's statement in English.
The proposed Law Against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination, introduced by President Evo Morales, was the target of journalist protests in 11 Bolivian cities on Friday, Oct. 1, the newspapers Los Tiempos and La Prensa report. In Potosí, journalists and news media went on strike for 24 hours, leaving the city without information, La Patria says.
Two reporters ended up arrested on Sunday, Oct. 3, after being accused of defamation by electoral authorities during the elections in the states of Río de Janeiro and Rondonia, according to the local press.
During the chaotic episode that began with the police and military protesting and ended in what President Rafael Correa called a coup attempt, Ecuador's media was forced to simulcast the official version of events via a forced link with the state's official channels, reported El Mundo.
The intensification of campaigns as we near Brazil's election day - Sunday, Oct. 3 - has provoked journalists and activist groups to release competing manifestos on freedom of expression and the behavior of the media, Carta Capital magazine reports.
In the lead-up to the Oct. 3 Brazilian elections, industry groups have released reports documenting threats to free expression in the country.
President José Mujica told the Brazilian magazine Veja that rulers shouldn’t respond to criticism from the press, because “if you respond you lose twice,” EFE reports.
A 16th Cuban journalist has been released from prison and gone into exile in Spain, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).