Women Press Freedom expresses profound alarm at judicial decisions granting freedom to a former governor and a former police chief accused of torturing investigative journalist Lydia Cacho.

Huang Xueqin was sentenced to five years in prison nearly three years after her detention on bogus charges of inciting subversion of state power.

Kazakhstan journalist Sandugash Duysenova, known for her investigative work on social issues and corruption, was humiliated and tortured by investigators during detention.

Freelance journalist Busharo Ali Mohamed was detained at Somaliland border and reportedly tortured by security forces.

Journalist Maria Ponomarenko has revealed that she was tortured in a psychiatric hospital in Siberia where she was under pre-trial detention.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights held the Colombian state responsible for the abduction, rape, and torture of journalist Jineth Bedoya in 2000. The court claimed that officials of the state were not only directly responsible for the torture Jineth suffered but institutions enabled the sexual assault by not taking the threats against Jineth seriously despite earlier complaints. The courts believed the negligence was a result of gender discrimination and ordered that those involved should be given adequate punishment.

The General Directorate of Prisons in Bushehr filed a criminal complaint against journalist and political prisoner Sepideh Qoliyan, who is on leave from prison. The journalist revealed the inhumane prison conditions and the harassment against women prisoners in Bushehr Prison. Sepideh was charged with "publishing lies online" and "spreading propaganda against the regime" after her posts about the prison on social media. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) denounces the legal harassment against the journalist. We reiterate; journalism is not a crime.