People’s Tribunal to indict governments, seeking justice for murdered journalists

THE HAGUE: Leading press freedom organizations Free Press Unlimited, Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists launch The People’s Tribunal to indict the governments of Sri Lanka, Mexico and Syria for failing to deliver justice for the murders of Lasantha Wickremathunga, Miguel Ángel López Velasco, and Nabil Al-Sharbaji.

The Tribunal, a form of grassroots justice, relies on investigations and high-quality legal analysis involving specific cases in three countries. The opening hearing will be held on 2 November in The Hague.

What: People’s Tribunals are designed to hold states accountable for violations of international law by building public awareness and generating a legitimate evidence record. The opening hearing will address the vicious cycle of impunity pertaining to the murder of journalists worldwide. Evidence of the unsolved murder cases will be presented to a panel of esteemed judges. Witnesses will present their testimonies. The hearing will also include a presentation of the indictment by the Tribunal’s Prosecution team, led by renowned lawyers Almudena Bernabeu and Sir Howard Morrison QC of the Guernica 37 International Justice Chambers.

When: A press briefing will take place in The Hague on Monday, 1 November 2021, 16:00-17:00 CET in The Hague and can be attended online and simultaneous translation from Spanish to English will be provided. The opening hearing will be convened on Tuesday, 2 November 2021, in The Hague, 09:00-18:00 CET and can also be joined online. If you are interested in attending the press briefing, please register here. If you wish to attend the opening hearing in-person, contact Maya Muller, Press Officer - [email protected] or call +31 6 82 09 12 09.

Where: The opening hearing of the Permanent People’s Tribunal can be joined in-person in The Hague, the Netherlands. For safety reasons, please register by contacting the press officer.

Who: Keynote address to be delivered by Baroness Helena Kennedy of The Shaws, member of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom. Witnesses delivering testimonies include Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa, Pavla Holcova, close colleague of murdered Slovak journalist Jàn Kuciak, Matthew Caruana Galizia, son of murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, and Hatice Cengiz, fiancée of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.- CPJ