Freedom of the press in Timor-Leste

The code was also put in place to curb the common practice of government officials paying journalists to report on them and their policies in a favorable manner.

The article states the council will be made up of five people who have the power to “Exercise disciplinary authority over journalists,” and “Grant, renew, suspend and revoke the professional credentials of journalists.”[10] After the new law was passed by parliament, it was sharply criticized by various press freedom groups.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the government to “eliminate the Media Act’s Requirement of an official Press Council and its requisite listing of journalists in favor of media self-regulation.”[11] Some members of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) called the law "draconian", and sent a petition to the Timor-Leste Government, urging them to strike down the law.

[14] In 2008, Timor-Leste Minister of Justice Lucia Lobato accused Jose Belo, publisher of investigative newspaper Tempo Semanal of defamation.

[15] In a number of articles in Tempo Semanal, Belo accused Lobato of corruption and using her power to get friends and family members into high-paying government positions.

Some of these groups include East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN), Pacific Media Watch (PMW), and the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ) who sent a letter to Timor-Leste's President José Ramos-Horta urging him to drop the charges against Belo.

[18] On November 10, 2015, freelance reporter Raimundos Oki wrote an article for the Timor Post in which he accused Timor-Leste Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araújo of possible “bid rigging” in a government computer contract.

In this case, Oki contends that Araujo had a history of this practice, and according to internal government documents, he gave preferential treatment to a particular technological firm—Packet Sistemindonesia Teknotama (PT).

On November 17, 2015, The Timor Post issued a correction with the accurate spelling of PT and printed a written response from the prime minister's office, defending itself against the accusations.

In a letter sent to Prime Minister de Araujo in April 2016, they urged him to drop charges against Oki and his former editor, Lourenco Martins.