Africa
2011
Jammeh to news media: I set limits on press freedom
Last week, Gambian President Yahya Jammeh participated in a rare meeting with select members of the West African nation’s press corps. Jammeh spoke in favor of access to public information. He announced that he would allow The Standard newspaper to resume publication, five months after the National Intelligence Agency forced its editor, Sheriff Bojang, to…
Cameroonian editor charged with criminal libel
New York, March 22, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the prosecution of a journalist in Cameroon over coverage of a labor dispute at a transportation company. A public prosecutor in the commercial city of Douala charged Editor Jean-Marie Tchatchouang of the weekly Paroles with criminal defamation on February 4, the journalist told CPJ.
In Ivory Coast, journalists pick sides or flee
Reporting on the power struggle in Ivory Coast is increasingly perilous, with journalists facing a climate of threats, intimidation, and attacks that has forced many to choose between adopting partisan coverage or fleeing to safety. “Here, we are in a situation where if you are not with one camp, then you are against them. You…
In Gambia, Jammeh asked to clarify Manneh’s ‘death’
Dear President Jammeh: We request clarification of your March 16 comments suggesting “Chief” Ebrima Manneh, a reporter for the Daily Observer, may have died. Manneh disappeared after witnesses saw him being arrested by state security agents in the offices of the Daily Observer on July 7, 2007. The government has previously denied any knowledge of Manneh’s fate.
CPJ condemns Ugandan police attack at protest
New York, March 18, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns an attack against the press covering an event organized by opposition party candidates in Uganda. The forces attacked about a dozen journalists covering a protest rally in Jinja, eastern Uganda, organized by three opposition parties on March 11, according to local journalists.
Angola’s ruling MPLA obstructing independent reporting
New York, March 16, 2011–Angola’s ruling MPLA government must allow the press to freely cover public events, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today after a number of recent incidents in which authorities barred journalists from covering public events related to the country’s opposition party.
Killer of DRC technician said to wear police uniform
Hardy Kazadi Ilunga was just 21. A technician with the private station Radio-Télévision Mosaïque in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo town of Likasi, he was murdered late Saturday by a gunman apparently wearing a police uniform, according to the Congolese press freedom group OLPA and local journalists.
Two Comoros journalists charged over presidential coverage
New York, March 14, 2011–Two Comorian journalists charged today with “publishing false news” in their coverage of the formal handover of power between President Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi and President-elect Ikililou Dhoinine could face up to six months in prison if convicted, according to local journalists and news reports.
Gbagbo forces block pro-Ouattara papers in Ivory Coast
New York, March 14, 2011–Security forces loyal to Ivorian ruler Laurent Gbagbo blocked distribution on Friday of pro-opposition newspapers reporting on the African Union’s decision to confirm its recognition of rival Alassane Ouattara as president. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the obstruction and calls on authorities to halt further censorship.