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Online threats, intimidation and judicial harassment against environmental journalist Alberto Castaño

As an environmental journalist working in Colombia, Alberto Castaño is accustomed to threats. Castaño and his wife, María Lourdes Zimmerman, report on environmental abuses happening across the country. Their work has resulted in online threats, intimidation, and judicial harassment. In 2018, identifying information about Castaño and his 8-year-old son was shared on Twitter. His address had been shared publicly online; he had been doxxed.
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The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union and its coordinated fight against the use of Pegasus 

We spoke to Dalma Dojcsák, Executive Director of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU), about spyware. HCLU is one of Media Defence’s partner organisations. One of its most important areas of work is within political rights and civil liberties. This area of work includes privacy-themed projects, under which the organisation has taken coordinated domestic and foreign legal action in relation to the use of Pegasus spyware in Hungary.
Read the interview here
Interventions

We have filed an intervention before the Constitutional Court of Colombia in a constitutional challenge to two provisions of the Colombian Penal Code. 
Under Articles 220 and 221,  individuals accused of making “dishonourable accusations” can face up to 4.5 years in jail. Those accused of libel face up to 6 years in jail. The constitutionality of these provisions was challenged by Colombian non-governmental organisation El Veinte.
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has handed down its judgment in Sanchez v France. Media Defence intervened in the case with EFF.

The Court has now decided that politicians - described by the Court as those who are “professional in politics” - can be held criminally liable for third party comments on their social media accounts. 
Reports

Lawyer Impact Survey 2022

We carried out our third Lawyer Impact Survey to assess the impact of our support to lawyers. 

Key findings include:

  • 100% of respondents recognised that Media Defence added value to their case;
  • 95% of respondents would recommend our legal support to other lawyers;
  • 91% of respondents were satisfied or extremely satisfied with the quality of legal support; and
  • 95% of respondents felt more confident in their skills and ability in litigating freedom of expression cases.

Read the survey


Learning Report 2022

We undertake a variety of internal and external evaluations each year to understand the effectiveness and relevance of our programmes, ensuring that we learn from the experiences of the lawyers and journalists involved. We also do this to explore the impact of legal defence for journalists in an increasingly contracting space for media freedom.

In 2022, we implemented a new partner feedback survey, to ensure that we are giving the best support possible, and regularly updating our programme to reflect the needs and requirements of our partners.

Read our learning report.
We are hiring!

We are currently hiring for a Finance and Operations Director. See the job description and information on how to apply here. Deadline 23 June 2023.
Facing legal threats because of your journalism? We can help.
We support journalists – including citizen journalists, bloggers, broadcasters, photojournalists, cartoonists or fact-checkers – and news outlets when they are confronted with legal action as a result of their reporting.
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