CPJ, partners call for swift trial after ex-governor surrenders in Philippine journalist’s murder

On Wednesday, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Free Press Unlimited (FPU), and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) — who together form the ‘A Safer World for the Truth’ initiative — called for a swift and impartial trial after fugitive ex-governor Joel T. Reyes surrendered to authorities in connection with the 2011 murder of Philippine broadcast journalist Gerry Ortega.

“This is long overdue. Former governor Joel T. Reyes has evaded justice for more than 13 years, there must be a swift and impartial trial now without any further delay,” said the coalition in a statement.

Ortega, an environmental journalist based on the island of Palawan in the Philippines, reported on corruption within the administration of ex-Palawan governor Reyes before he was murdered in 2011. Reyes had been in hiding despite an arrest warrant issued against him in 2023.

Reyes’ surrender came after a successful legal bid to have his trial transferred to a court in Quezon City, near the capital Manila. The Ortega family had wanted the trial to stay in Palawan, but a Philippine court recently rejected the family’s legal plea. No date has been fixed for the start of the Reyes trial in Quezon City.

Earlier this year, the three press freedom groups met with the Philippine authorities in Manila earlier this year to present new leads that could lead to the arrest of Reyes. Since 1992, 96 journalists have been killed in connection with their work in the Philippines.

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Global press freedom updates?

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Spotlight

The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) honored CPJ with the 2024 Chapultepec Grand Prize in recognition of the organization’s “commendable work in favor of press freedom and freedom of expression as part of its fight and promotion for human rights.”?

The prize will be presented to Jodie Ginsberg, CPJ's CEO, at a ceremony during the 80th General Assembly of the IAPA in Córdoba, Argentina, from October 17 to 20, 2024. CPJ is grateful to IAPA for the award and its efforts to advance press freedom throughout the region.

Separately, on Monday, CPJ and 34 human rights and press freedom organizations released a joint statement condemning the recent arrests and enforced disappearance of four Egyptian journalists — Ashraf Omar, Khaled Mamdouh, Ramadan Gouida, and Yasser Abu Al-Ela — and called for their immediate release.?

The statement urged Egyptian authorities to drop all charges against the journalists, cease targeting them for their work, end the practice of concealing the status or location of those in custody, investigate allegations that at least two of the journalists were tortured or treated inhumanely, and hold those responsible accountable.

What we are reading

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• Beyond the facade: Unveiling the violence in Nigeria’s ‘peaceful’ presidential elections —Olajide Adelana, Kabir Yusuf, Yekeen Akinwale, and Ekemini Simon, Veza
• Mozambique: Abuses against media, activists before elections — Human Rights Watch