Three Panamanian television journalists were absolved of defamation charges stemming from the broadcast of a video showing a police officer being bribed, reported the newspaper La Estrella on Tuesday, July 17.
Gotson Pierre, founder of Alterpresse in Haiti, told the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas that journalists in the Dominican Republic and Haiti are facing serious, recent threats against freedom of expression.
The Panamanian press accused President Ricardo Martinelli of leading a defamation campaign against journalists critical of his administration, reported the Spanish news agency EFE.
On Tuesday, July 3, the Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA in Spanish) released a proposal to limit the financial amount of moral damages that could be claimed against journalists.
The prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago has agreed to review the Caribbean nation's criminal defamation laws, according to the International Press Institute (IPI).
The same project that caused Brazilian journalist Lúcio Flávio Pinto to be sentenced to pay moral damages also made him the winner of the 34th edition of the Vladimir Herzog Amnesty and Human Rights Award, reported the news site Ambiente Já. His journalistic work in the Amazon has led to more than 33 lawsuits against him, as well as many awards, such as four Esso awards, which are the most important awards for journalism in Brazil.
On Wednesday, June 6, the National Association of Journalists of Peru reported that on May 24, a judge from the department of Ancash emitted a sentence against a journalist for alleged defamation of a public official of the province. The sentence was suspended as long as the journalist follows certain rules, including "rectifying" damages within 15 days.
On Tuesday, June 5, two Peruvian journalists were sentenced to two years in prison and fined to pay more than $22,000 each to the former Interior Minister, Antonio Ketín Vidal Herrera, who accused the journalists of "alleged defamation" on January 12, 2011, reported the Press and Society Institute.
A Guatemalan subsidiary of the Spanish hydroelectric company Hidralia Energía released a warning that it would take legal and criminal actions against those who spread defamation and libel against the company, reported the Center of Informative Reports of Guatemala.
On Monday, May 7, in an article published by the Argentine newspaper Clarin, journalist Daniel Santoro said that he was victim of a plot to discredit him created by the Argentine Intelligence Agency (SIDE in Spanish).
Roughly 1,500 journalists marched to the presidential palace of Panama to demand respect for freedom of expression on Tuesday, April 24, reported the Xinhua news agency.
On Thursday, April 19, the International Press Institute (IPI) announced plans to continue its campaign to decriminalize defamation in the Caribbean countries of Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago, with missions to each country scheduled this summer.