2008

New York, April 11, 2008—Two South African media workers had their second day in court today in Zimbabwe facing charges of “obstructing the course of justice,” local journalists and the Media Institute of Southern Africa told CPJ. The trial for New York Times reporter Barry Bearak and a British national accused of practicing journalism without…

New York, April 9, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists called today for charges to be dropped against South African journalists Sipho Moses Maseko and Abdulla Ismail Gaibbe and their passports returned. The case was tossed out once by a court magistrate but charges were later reinstated. The men, working for the South African satellite company…

New York, April 7, 2008—A New York Times reporter and a British national were released on bail from Zimbabwe’s Harare Central Prison today after spending five days in detention on charges of reporting without accreditation. The award-winning Times journalist, Barry Bearak, is currently receiving medical treatment for a chest infection and a back injury he…

YEAR NAME AFFILIATION CHARGE ACTION 2000 Obed Zilwa The Associated Press None; accused of involvement in bomb attack on defunct Daily News Held for three nights; left the country Rob Cooper Chris Mazivanhange Vincent Murwira Peter Maringisanwe The Associated Press The Associated Press South African Broadcasting Corp. South African Broadcasting Corp. N/A Beaten by Zimbabwean…

In Zimbabwe, New York, April 3, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the detention in Harare today of New York Times correspondent Barry Bearak and calls for his immediate release. “It is imperative that all journalists, foreign and domestic, be allowed to freely cover the important political situation unfolding in Zimbabwe,” CPJ Executive…

New York, April 4, 2008—Zimbabwe’s acting attorney general recommended today that the police release a foreign correspondent and another man accused of working as a journalist in custody since yesterday. Yesterday afternoon, police raided one of the hotels used by foreign journalists, the York Lodge in the Harare suburbs, and arrested New York Times reporter…

APRIL 1, 2008 Posted June 11, 2008 Dave Amusa, The National Mirror ATTACKED A journalist was beaten by police while reporting on council poll results from the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission premises in Port Harcourt on March 31.

MARCH 3, 2008 Posted March 28, 2008 Jacques Blaise Mvié, La Nouvelle PresseKIDNAPPED Director Jacques Blaise Mvié of the private weekly La Nouvelle Presse told CPJ an unidentified man in plain clothes jumped from a gray Toyota Prado 4 x 4 and forced him at gunpoint in the car as he was walking away from…

New York, March 31, 2008—Police in the Senegalese capital of Dakar assaulted a reporter who was covering a violent anti-government protest on Sunday, according to local journalists and news reports. They later raided the reporter’s station and confiscated footage. Walf TV reporter Ousmane Mangane told CPJ that riot police used Tasers on him as he…

New York, March 27, 2008—The Zimbabwean government is using journalist accreditation laws to prevent most major international media outlets and some local journalists from covering the country’s elections on Saturday. According to local journalists and the South Africa National Editor’s Forum, only a handful of foreign correspondents are accredited, while major media groups such as…