Newspaper satirist Abebe Tolla, better known as Abé Tokichaw, fled Ethiopia fearing imprisonment in retaliation for critical news commentaries, media reported this week. His exit was overshadowed by the trial of opposition figures and journalists on charges of terrorism. In an interview he gave to U.S.-based Addis Neger Online from an undisclosed location, Abebe said…
It’s easy to use polarizing descriptions of online news-gathering. It’s the domain of citizen journalists, blogging without pay and institutional support, or it’s a sector filled with the digital works of “mainstream media” facing financial worries and struggling to offer employees the protection they once provided. But there is a growing middle ground: trained reporters…
New York, November 11, 2011–A judge in Ethiopia’s federal high court charged six journalists with terrorism on Thursday under the country’s antiterrorism law, bringing the number of journalists charged under the statute since June to 10, CPJ research found.
New York, November 8, 2011–The administration of incumbent Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf silenced on Monday three Liberian broadcasters that have covered the campaigning of the opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) party in the run-up to today’s runoff presidential vote, according to news reports.
New York, November 7, 2011–Two South Sudanese independent journalists have been imprisoned since last week over a column critical of President Salva Kiir, according to local journalists and news reports. On November 1, South Sudan National Security Services (NSS) agents in the temporary capital of Juba arrested Peter Ngor, editor of the private daily Destiny,…
Slain journalist Francis Nyaruri received threatening calls from a senior policeman shortly before he disappeared and his decapitated body was found in Kodera forest, western Kenya, a court sitting in Kisumu heard today in the presence of two murder suspects and four witnesses.
On Thursday, U.S. Senator Richard Durbin sent a letter to Gambia’s justice minister, Edward Gomez, renewing his appeal for the release of local journalist Ebrima “Chief” Manneh. Manneh disappeared more than five years ago after security agents seized him at the offices of his newspaper, the Daily Observer.
New York, November 2, 2011–Authorities in northern Somalia banned two private broadcasters from operating in Puntland Tuesday, blaming independent media coverage for undermining national security as they grapple with potentially destabilizing violence in the region, according to local journalists and news reports. The Information Ministry in semi-autonomous Puntland banned the local operations of Universal TV…
New York, October 31, 2011– Authorities in the Angolan enclave of Cabinda should take all steps necessary to ensure the safety of independent journalist José Manuel Gimbi, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today following reports that unidentified armed men raided Gimbi’s residence Thursday and threatened to harm him.
New York, October 24, 2011–Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi last week accused journalists in the country of being “messengers” with “terrorist” groups, while a state newspaper accused the chief editor of an independent publication of having terrorist ties and called on security forces to “take action” against him. The Committee to Protect Journalists today said…