This archive report was first published on 18 September 2019.
On September 13th, 2019, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) sent a demand letter to blogger Cyprian Nyakundi, accusing him of defamation over a series of exposés on his blog.
According to the letter, written by IAVI's lawyer General Counsel Labeeb M. Abboub, Nyakundi published defamatory articles about the organization, including allegations of mistreatment of employees, infringement of privacy of patients, and selling of data belonging to patients by one Dr. Kundai Chinyenze.
IAVI claims that the articles contain numerous factual inaccuracies, false statements, and defamatory allegations against the organization. The letter demands that Nyakundi retract and apologize to IAVI in the same prominence given to the defamatory articles, and that he cease making further baseless accusations against the organization.
This is not the first time Nyakundi has received a demand letter. In an earlier article, he revealed that he receives an average of 10 demand letters per month, which he reads about online.
