Africa
2005
CAMEROON
JANUARY 10, 2005 Updated: February 15, 2005 Jules Koum Koum, Le Jeune Observateur LEGAL ACTION, IMPRISONED Jules Koum Koum, publication director of the private bimonthly Le Jeune Observateur, was sentenced to six months in prison for allegedly defaming the CPA insurance company in an article published in February 2004.
In Zimbabwe, Mugabe signs repressive new media law
New York, January 10, 2005 —Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has signed into law a measure that sets prison terms of up to two years for any journalist found working without accreditation from the government-controlled Media and Information Commission. The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Mugabe and his government to turn away from such measures, including…
CPJ condemns attack on journalists
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the recent violent attack on journalists by government security forces. On Tuesday, January 4, police acting as security at a meeting of the National Executive Council of Your Excellency’s ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the capital, Abuja, assaulted at least 10 journalists who were covering the meeting.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
JANUARY 5, 2005 Posted: January 27, 2005 Deo Mulima Kampuku, La Référence Plus LEGAL ACTION Mulima, a reporter with the independent Congolese daily La Référence Plus, was sentenced in absentia to four months in jail for criminal defamation on January 5, according to local press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED) and sources at the…