Africa

Lusaka, April 15, 2024 – Malawian authorities should drop all legal proceedings against Nation Publications Limited journalist Macmillan Mhone, who is accused of cyber spamming, publishing false news, and extortion, and ensure that journalists can work without the fear of arrest, said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday. On April 7, Chester Chikumbutso Doba, a…

Dakar, April 11, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Mali’s media regulator to lift its ban on political reporting in the country and allow journalists to cover the news without restrictions.  On Thursday, the country’s High Authority for Communication (HAC) issued a directive that “invited all media” to “stop all broadcasting and publication” of coverage on…

Dakar, April 10, 2024 — The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of journalist and La Dépêche publishing director Apollinaire Mewenemesse and calls for Togolese authorities to lift the conditions placed on his freedom, drop all charges against him, and cease criminalizing journalism. On April 9, a court in Lomé, Togo’s capital city, released…

Lusaka, April 10, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists on Wednesday welcomed South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s signing into law a bill that abolishes criminal defamation, and urged authorities to reform other problematic laws that threaten press freedom in the country. On April 3, Ramaphosa signed the Judicial Matters Amendment Act (2023), which includes…

Two privately owned newspapers in Lesotho—the Lesotho Tribune and Lesotho Times—faced separate lawsuits in February and March 2024, seeking to shut them down, according to the publications’ owners who spoke to CPJ. In late March, the courts dismissed both lawsuits, but the newspapers still face defamation cases in connection with their corruption coverage. Mergence Investment…

On February 23, at least seven soldiers arrested and handcuffed journalist Dele Fasan and hit him with a gun as he filmed at the scene of a planned protest in Nigeria’s southern Delta State, according to news reports and Fasan, who spoke to CPJ by phone. Fasan, regional bureau chief for the privately owned Galaxy…

Dakar, April 1, 2024—Togolese authorities must release journalist Apollinaire Mewenemesse, drop all legal proceedings against him, and reform the country’s laws to prevent journalists from being arrested for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. An investigating judge charged Mewenemesse, publishing director of the privately owned weekly newspaper La Dépêche, with numerous defamation,…

New York, April 1, 2024–Angola’s proposed national security law could hinder the public’s right to information and severely undermine press freedom, further exposing journalists to harassment, intimidation, and censorship by authorities, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Monday. The National Security Bill, which critics say threatens Angola’s democracy and could turn the country into…

Abuja, March 29, 2024—Liberian authorities should investigate the law enforcement officers who tear-gassed and beat to unconsciousness journalist Kesselee Sumo, and drop all legal proceedings against the talk show host, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. Two officers with the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) and a magistrate’s court sheriff assaulted and arrested Sumo,…

Abuja, March 21, 2024—The Nigerian military should swiftly and publicly account for the whereabouts of First News editor Segun Olatunji, who was taken by armed men identifying themselves as officers with the army, disclose any charges against him, and ensure his safety, said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday. On March 15, around 15…