Africa

2014

  

African Court upholds appeal against criminal defamation

Cape Town, South Africa, December 5, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today’s ruling by the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights in Addis Ababa that criminal defamation should be used only in restricted circumstances and that imprisonment for defamation violates freedom of expression. The court also upheld the appeal of Issa Lohé Konaté,…

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South African court rules that criminal defamation is in line with constitution

Cape Town, South Africa, December 5, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the decision by the Pretoria High Court in South Africa to uphold journalist Cecil Motsepe’s appeal against a conviction of criminal defamation, but disapproves of the court’s ruling that the crime of defamation for journalists falls in line with South Africa’s constitution. Motsepe,…

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Congolese Information Minister Lambert Mende has ordered the shutdown of multiple radio stations in the Congo. (Radio Okapi)

Authorities order radio stations to be closed in the DRC

Nairobi, November 24, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists today calls on authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo to stop meddling with radio station broadcasts in the country. The Congolese Information Minister Lambert Mende has called for the shutdown of several radio stations in recent weeks, and a few have gone off the air.

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Two gunmen shot Abdirisak Ali Abdi at a restaurant on Tuesday. The Radio Daljir journalist died at a hospital. (HCTV)

Somali journalist in Puntland killed by gunmen

Nairobi, November 19, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland to do their utmost to arrest and prosecute the killers of a Somali journalist and identify the motive behind the murder.

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Accounting for impunity is obligation for all states

This week, members of UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication will meet to discuss the director general’s biannual report, which examines the cases of nearly 600 journalists killed around the world from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2013. The report, and lacklustre response from member states who had been asked to provide…

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In Sierra Leone, journalist imprisoned after criticizing president

Abuja, Nigeria, November 4, 2014–A journalist in Sierra Leone has been imprisoned after criticizing President Ernest Bai Koroma’s handling of the Ebola outbreak, according to news reports and local journalists. David Tam Baryoh was arrested on Monday.

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Justus Ochieng at the Central Police Station in Kisumu. The journalist has been threatened and harassed in recent weeks. (The Star)

Kenyan journalist covering police detained, harassed

Nairobi, November 4, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Kenyan police to stop harassing and threatening a journalist in Kisumu city, western Kenya. Last month, police threatened and briefly detained Justus Ochieng, a reporter for the privately owned daily The Star, in connection with a story he wrote that alleged criminal activity by police…

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Journalists arrested after covering protest in Somaliland

Nairobi, November 3, 2014–Authorities in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland arrested two journalists from privately owned television stations last week after they each aired coverage of a protest in the northwest town of Gabiley, local journalists told CPJ. Authorities arrested Horn Cable TV reporter Mukhtar Nouh Ibrahim on October 30 and SomSat TV reporter Mohamed…

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Cameroon journalists questioned in military court for withholding information

Lagos, Nigeria, October 31, 2014–Two journalists in Cameroon accused of withholding information from the state have been interrogated by a military court and ordered not to leave the country, according to news reports.

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Protesters demonstrate against a proposed amendment to Burkina Faso's constitution that would allow President Blaise Compaore to extend his term. (AFP/Issouf Sanogo)

Press in Burkina Faso must be protected amid anti-government protests

Lagos, Nigeria, October 30, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed that protesters stormed and looted the offices of Burkina Faso’s national broadcaster Radiodiffusion Television du Burkina in the capital, Ouagadougou, today. Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets to protest a constitutional amendment that would allow President Blaise Compaore to seek re-election next…

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2014