Panama / Americas

  

Panama court freezes La Prensa’s assets amid defamation suit by former president

Managua, July 10, 2020 –  Panamanian authorities should immediately restore Corporación La Prensa’s access to its financial assets, and ensure that legal actions do not censor the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On July 4, a Panamanian civil court ordered a freeze on the assets and bank accounts of Corporación La Prensa,…

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A timeline on the wall at the La Estrella de Panamá office highlights important dates in the newspaper's history.(CPJ/Natalie Southwick)

US Treasury Department decision risks future of two Panama newspapers

La Estrella de Panamá has kept Panama’s citizens informed since 1849. Now, as the country prepares for elections next year, the existence of the major newspaper, along with that of its sister title, El Siglo, may depend on the U.S. Treasury Department.

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Dutch journalist Okke Ornstein, pictured in a prison compound in Panama, was jailed for criminal defamation. (CPJ/Jan-Albert Hootsen)

Dutch journalist Okke Ornstein due to be freed from Panama prison

New York, December 20, 2016–Dutch journalist Okke Ornstein is due to be released unconditionally from a Panamanian prison by December 23, his lawyer Manuel Succari told CPJ today. The journalist was named in a list published by the government today of people whose sentences were reduced as part of a presidential pardon. Ornstein was arrested…

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Turkey’s crackdown propels number of journalists in jail worldwide to record high

At least 81 journalists are imprisoned in Turkey, all of them facing anti-state charges, in the wake of an unprecedented crackdown that has included the shuttering of more than 100 news outlets. The 259 journalists in jail worldwide is the highest number recorded since 1990. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser

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Dutch journalist Okke Ornstein pictured in Panama's Renacer prison, where he is being held for criminal defamation. (CPJ/Jan-Albert Hootsen)

Jailed Dutch reporter Ornstein says Panama failed to inform him of legal proceedings

A faint smile appears on Okke Ornstein’s face as he recalls what happened last summer, when he traveled with a group of refugees through Europe to document their trip for a Dutch radio broadcaster.

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Ornstein, who is known in the Netherlands for his in depth reporting for NPO, says authorities did not provide a translator when he was arrested. (Kimberlyn David)

Dutch journalist Okke Ornstein jailed in Panama for criminal defamation

New York, November 29, 2016–Authorities in Panama should immediately release Dutch journalist Okke Ornstein, who has been detained since November 15, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Ornstein, a Panama-based journalist who runs the news website Bananama Republic, was arrested in relation to a 2012 criminal defamation conviction when he arrived at Panama City…

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CPJ urges OAS not to weaken human rights system

Dear OAS Ministers of Foreign Affairs: Ahead of the assembly of the Organization of American States on Friday, the Committee to Protect Journalists urges you to oppose any attempts to debilitate the regional human rights system. The failure of member states to preserve the autonomy and independence of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and its special rapporteur on freedom of expression would make citizens throughout the hemisphere more vulnerable to human rights violations and represent a blow to democracy in the Americas.

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Panamanian daily’s offices blockaded after critical reports

About 30 trucks from Transcaribe Trading (TCT), a local construction company in Panama City, surrounded the offices of the daily La Prensa on August 2, 2012, from around 10 p.m. until 1:30 a.m., preventing the paper’s trucks and employees from leaving the premises, according to news reports. TCT workers told local journalists that they were…

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Critical Spanish journalists expelled from Panama

New York, March 2, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Panamanian government to allow two Spanish journalists and human rights activists who were expelled to return to the country. The journalists were covering and documenting an indigenous demonstration on Saturday when they were detained by authorities and accused of “disrupting public order” according…

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Panamanian journalists organize a demonstration in front of the Supreme Court to protest criminal defamation. (laestrella.com.pa)

In Panama, defamation conviction draws outcry

New York, October 7, 2010–A Panamanian court of appeals has convicted two TV journalists of criminal defamation and banned them from professional work for one year, news reports said. While President Ricardo Martinelli said he would pardon the journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today that lawmakers should repeal all criminal penalties for defamation.

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