{
  "title": "Incidents: insult and defamation laws, stage: eliminate",
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    "tactic": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
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  "sort": "date",
  "count": 3,
  "page": 1,
  "pages": 1,
  "per_page": 50,
  "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.",
  "facets": {
    "country": [
      {
        "value": "BY",
        "label": "Belarus",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 165,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "RU",
        "label": "Russia",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 172,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "TH",
        "label": "Thailand",
        "rsf": null
      }
    ],
    "continent": [
      {
        "value": "asia",
        "label": "Asia"
      },
      {
        "value": "europe",
        "label": "Europe"
      }
    ],
    "tactic": [
      {
        "value": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
        "label": "Insult and defamation laws",
        "count": 3
      }
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    "stage": [
      {
        "value": "eliminate",
        "label": "Eliminate",
        "count": 3
      }
    ],
    "level": [
      {
        "value": "national",
        "label": "National",
        "count": 3
      }
    ],
    "outcome": [
      {
        "value": "sustained",
        "label": "Sustained",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "reversed",
        "label": "Reversed",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "upheld",
        "label": "Upheld by a court",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "leader": [
      {
        "value": "alexander-lukashenko",
        "label": "Alexander Lukashenko"
      },
      {
        "value": "vladimir-putin",
        "label": "Vladimir Putin"
      },
      {
        "value": "yingluck-shinawatra",
        "label": "Yingluck Shinawatra"
      }
    ],
    "era": [
      {
        "value": "2020s",
        "label": "2020s",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "2010s",
        "label": "2010s",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "year": [
      {
        "value": "2013",
        "label": "2013",
        "count": 1
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      {
        "value": "2023",
        "label": "2023",
        "count": 2
      }
    ],
    "has_case": [
      {
        "value": "0",
        "label": "without a court case",
        "count": 3
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    ]
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "slug": "2023-russia-ponomarenko-fake-news-sentence",
      "title": "Russia: journalist Maria Ponomarenko is sentenced to six years for reporting on a Mariupol strike",
      "occurred_on": "2023-02-15",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "RU",
      "country_name": "Russia",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "RU",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
      "tactics": [
        "insult_and_defamation_laws"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin",
      "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Ponomarenko's post concerned an airstrike that hit a theater in Mariupol, Ukraine, in March 2022, a strike Russian authorities have denied responsibility for.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": "2023-02-15",
      "outcome_note": "Ponomarenko's six-year sentence and five-year journalism ban stood as of the source reviewed.",
      "stage": "eliminate",
      "ladder_note": "A journalist received a six-year sentence and a five-year professional ban under a wartime false-information law for one social media post, not a fine or license action.",
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 172,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "A Russian court sentenced journalist Maria Ponomarenko to six years in prison and a five-year ban on journalism under a law criminalizing \"false information\" about the military, after she published a Telegram post about an airstrike on a Mariupol theater that Russia denies carrying out.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-russia-ponomarenko-fake-news-sentence"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2023-belarus-poczobut-eight-year-sentence",
      "title": "Belarus: journalist Andrzej Poczobut is sentenced to eight years for inciting hatred",
      "occurred_on": "2023-02-08",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "BY",
      "country_name": "Belarus",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "BY",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
      "tactics": [
        "insult_and_defamation_laws"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "alexander-lukashenko",
      "leader_name": "Alexander Lukashenko",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Poczobut had been a longtime commentator and producer for programs on the Poland-based independent broadcaster Belsat TV and Polish public broadcaster TVP Polonia, reporting on Belarus for a Polish-speaking audience.",
      "outcome": "reversed",
      "outcome_on": "2026-04-28",
      "outcome_note": "Poczobut was freed on April 28, 2026, as part of a prisoner exchange involving eight countries, before completing his eight-year sentence.",
      "stage": "eliminate",
      "ladder_note": "A journalist was imprisoned for about five years on a hatred and sanctions charge, and his release required an eight-country prisoner exchange rather than any domestic legal process.",
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 165,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "reversed",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "A Belarusian court sentenced dual Belarusian-Polish journalist Andrzej Poczobut to eight years in prison on charges of inciting hatred and calling for sanctions, and he was freed three years later as part of a multi-country prisoner exchange.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-belarus-poczobut-eight-year-sentence"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2013-thailand-somyot-lese-majeste-sentence",
      "title": "Thailand: magazine editor Somyot Prueksakasemsuk is sentenced to 11 years under the lese-majeste law",
      "occurred_on": "2013-01-24",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "TH",
      "country_name": "Thailand",
      "continent": "asia",
      "jurisdiction": "TH",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
      "tactics": [
        "insult_and_defamation_laws"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "yingluck-shinawatra",
      "leader_name": "Yingluck Shinawatra",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The two articles that led to the charge, published in Voice of Taksin magazine in February and March 2010, were written under a pseudonym by a former government spokesman living in exile, whom Somyot identified only after his own prosecution began.",
      "outcome": "upheld",
      "outcome_on": "2018-04-30",
      "outcome_note": "Somyot's conviction and sentence were not overturned; he served his full 11-year term and was released on completing it in April 2018.",
      "stage": "eliminate",
      "ladder_note": "An editor received an 11-year sentence under a royal insult law for articles written by someone else, and served the sentence in full before release.",
      "rsf": null,
      "era": "2010s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "historical",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "A Thai court sentenced magazine editor Somyot Prueksakasemsuk to 11 years in prison under Article 112 of the penal code, the country's lese-majeste law barring insults to the royal family, over two articles he published under a pen name.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-thailand-somyot-lese-majeste-sentence"
    }
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    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
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}