2013

  
This week in Mogadishu, Abdiaziz Abdinuur, left was freed from prison, but Mohamed Ali Nuxurkey was killed in a bombing that injured three other journalists. (AFP, Raxanreeb)

Jubilation, then tragedy, for Mogadishu press this week

“He’s free! He’s free!” a friend of mine from Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, shouted down the phone line on Sunday. For a fleeting second I did not know whom he referred to, given the high number of journalists imprisoned in the Horn region of Africa–but then it dawned on me: Abdiaziz Abdinuur had finally found justice.…

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Zimbabwe must heed rule of law in Beatrice Mtetwa case

Dear Minister: We are writing to express our concern about the arrest on Sunday of award-winning human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa and her subsequent detention by police in defiance of an order issued by a high court judge. We believe this invalidates the criminal proceedings instituted against her on Wednesday and constitutes an affront to the constitution and legal system of your country.

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In Togo, court rejects repressive press law amendments

Lagos, Nigeria, March 21, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Wednesday’s ruling by Togo’s Constitutional Court to reject repressive amendments to a media law that granted the state-run media regulator sweeping powers of censorship.

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Press freedom groups denounce repression in Azerbaijan

In a joint statement today, leading international press freedom and human rights groups, including CPJ, condemned the ongoing repression of journalists and rights activists in Azerbaijan and urged authorities to address the issue immediately.

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Information Permanent Secretary Bitange Ndemo has criticized the press in the past. (The Nation)

New challenges for local and foreign press in Kenya

Kenya has passed peacefully through its election period, but questions still hang over the legitimacy of presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory–as well as over the future of the country’s media coverage. During polling, challenges arose for both local and international media, and they have not subsided. For the foreign press, it is now unclear how…

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Violence in Guinea leads to attacks on journalists, outlets

Several journalists and news outlets covering political unrest in the capital, Conakry, were attacked in late February and March 2013, according to local journalists and news reports.

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Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos (left) and Anibal Cavaco Silva, president of Portugal, in Lisbon in 2009. (AFP/Joao Cortesao)

Portuguese media chilled by Angolan involvement

Portuguese journalists are increasingly concerned by Angola’s growing investment and influence in their country. Buoyed by petrodollars and diamonds, powerful Angolan interests have been indulging in a buying spree in their former colonial power. Angolan capital invested in Portugal increased 35 times in the past decade, according to news reports. In a process often acidly…

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Obama should press Israel to return Wattan TV property

New York, March 19, 2013–During his trip to the region this week, U.S. President Barack Obama should call on Israeli authorities to return the equipment of an independent broadcaster that was seized more than a year ago, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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(Boukary Daou)

Mali charges editor jailed for publishing critical story

Lagos, Nigeria, March 19, 2013–A journalist in Mali was charged on Monday with incitement to mutiny and publishing false information in connection with his publication of an article that was critical of a former coup leader, according to news reports.Boukary Daou, a top editor for the daily Le Républicain, has been in custody since March 6,…

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Journalists attacked in Egypt over the weekend

New York, March 19, 2013–At least 14 journalists were attacked by police and supporters of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood group outside the group’s headquarters in Cairo on Saturday and Sunday, according to news reports and local journalists.

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