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Le Mbandja carried this coverage of the presidential jet scandal. (CPJ)

New York, March 20, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Gabon's authorities to drop legal proceedings against six journalists in connection with articles raising questions about use of a presidential plane. Two of the journalists have fled the country fearing arrest after being summoned by police for interrogation.

Opposition leader André Mba Obame addressed the nation Sunday via his broadcaster TV+. (CPJ)

New York, January 5, 2012--The government of Gabon, led by President Ali Bongo, on Tuesday imposed suspensions on a TV station and a newspaper for coverage of opposition leader André Mba Obame, according to local journalists and news reports.

A man sets up a satellite dish in Zimbabwe, where state news is severely restricted on the ongoing protests in the Middle East, but where CNN is still accessible. (AP)As news of Middle Eastern and North African protests swirl around the globe, satellite television and the Internet prove vital sources of information for Africans as governments fearful of an informed citizenry and a free press such as in Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, and Zimbabwe impose total news blackouts on the developments.
Obame after being "sworn in." The government took it seriously. (AFP)

Last week, Gabon's government-controlled National Communications Council ordered the TV station of opposition leader André Mba Obame off the air for a period of three months. The ruling is without appeal and, typically, this is how authorities in this oil-rich equatorial African state silence critical news outlets. Except that, this time, the "reporting" for which the TV station was forced off the air was not about a real event but rather the staging of a faux presidential swearing-in ceremony.

New York, October 29, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Gabonese authorities to free a journalist who was jailed on Tuesday for failing to pay exorbitant damages stemming from a 2004 civil libel suit.

Gabonese journalists at Radio TV Top Bendje, whose transmitters were disconnected during the 2009 elections. (Radio TV Top Bendje)

In Gabon, more than a year after the historic and contested presidential elections won by Ali Ben Bongo Ondimba, the main radio and television stations of Ondimba's two main opponents still face administrative obstructions imposed during the polls, according to interviews CPJ conducted with journalists and officials between July and September.

Gabon's press blossoms, faces financial challenges

I will never forget that morning of August 17, 1960, in Port-Gentil when I was awakened with a jolt by the screams: "Long live independence, long live freedom!" Yet Gabon would not see the emergence of an independent and pluralistic press until the democratization process of 1990. 

Your Excellencies: As you gather in Paris for festivities that celebrate your nations’ 50 years of independence, we, the undersigned African press freedom advocates petition for your public commitment to a free, vibrant, and self-sustaining press as a cornerstone of the development of francophone Africa in the next five decades.

New York, June 10, 2010The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a suspended prison sentence handed to a journalist this week over an article raising questions about the unsolved murder of a government official.

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Africa

Advocacy Coordinator:
Mohamed Keita

East Africa Consultant:
Tom Rhodes

mkeita@cpj.org
trhodes@cpj.org

Tel: 212-465-1004
ext. 117
Fax: 212-465-9568

330 7th Avenue, 11th Floor
New York, NY, 10001 USA

Twitter: @africamedia_CPJ

Blog: Mohamed Keita
Blog: Tom Rhodes

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