This week in Somolia, criminalized libel puts a journalist into jail for interviewing a rape victim. Here, libel is a criminal matter not a civil matter. "The Committee to Protect Journalists reported earlier this month (and Roy Greenslade blogged) that Somali freelance journalist Abdiaziz Abdinur Ibrahim was sentenced to a year in jail because he reported about about a woman who claimed she was raped by soldiers. The charge: Insulting the government."
There is a serious problem with the aspect of criminalized libel for journalists who's job it is to report news stories. This is a problem not only in Somolia but other places as well. The International Press Institute has a campaign to get Caribbean countries to change their laws. (IPI Campaign to Repeal Criminal Defamation in the Caribbean). Even if the information that the journalists are sharing is in fact true- people, organizations, or the government can ask for criminal penalties against them simply if one person doesn't like the story. There is no truth as a defense to combat libel in these places.
http://worldjournalism.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/criminalized-libel-in-somolia-puts-journalist-in-jail-for-interviewing-rape-victim/
http://worldjournalism.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/criminalized-libel-in-somolia-puts-journalist-in-jail-for-interviewing-rape-victim/
This is certainly a global issue in particular countries. The right of free press is essential to a functioning democracy and the lack there-of in Somalia poses real issues. This journalist is actually a famous journalist across East-Africa, I saw him on TV a lot in Kenya. So the fact that he is arrested may actually bring in pressure from other nations as well but...we'll see.
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to write about certain things in the name of unveiling information and the truth to the people when these journalists are being condemned, jailed, or even assaulted in certain cases for writing things that some individuals may not like or find themselves being discussed in a negative light.
ReplyDeleteIt is so sad that these journalists don't have enough rights to report on what is really happening. Too much government regulation in the media can result in a highly misinformed public. If these governments pick and choose what parts of a story can and cannot be reported, there won't be much accurate news.
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