Africa

2019

  
Art:Jack Forbes

South Africa elections 2019: Journalist safety kit

South Africa, one of the media freedom beacons in sub-Saharan Africa, will hold national and provincial elections on May 8. As the country celebrates 25 years of democracy, the press in South Africa faces old and new challenges, including physical harassment and cyber bullying. The press freedom environment, including the safety of journalists, will be…

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A man reads a newspaper in street in N'djamena, Chad, on April 12, 2016. A publisher was recently handed a suspended jail term in a defamation suit involving the president's brother. (Issouf Sanogo/AFP)

Chad publisher handed suspended jail term for critical reporting on president’s brother

Deli Nestor, publisher of the privately owned semi-weekly investigative newspaper Eclairage in Chad, was handed a six-month suspended prison sentence by a criminal court in N’Djamena on February 13, 2019, after he was convicted of defaming the brother of President Idriss Deby, according to Nestor, who spoke to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

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People listen to a radio in Monrovia, Liberia, on December 27, 2017. The Roots FM radio station in Monrovia was recently attacked in two separate incidents. (Thierry Gouegnon/Reuters)

Liberian radio station transmitter attacked twice in 10 days

Abidjan, February 15, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Liberian authorities to ensure that those responsible for two recent attacks on independent broadcaster Roots FM are swiftly arrested and prosecuted.

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A young man looks through a book at the Hargeisa International Book Fair in the Somaliland capital of Hargeisa on July 21, 2018. Somaliland authorities recently issued a one-year suspension of the privately owned Foore newspaper. (Mustafa Saeed/AFP)

Somaliland court suspends newspaper for one year for publishing ‘false news’

Nairobi, February 15, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed deep concern about a one-year suspension imposed by a Somaliland court on the privately owned Foore newspaper, and called on authorities to drop the charges on appeal.

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An electoral worker prepares identity card and biometric verification readers, at the offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Kano, northern Nigeria, on February 14, 2019. CPJ joined a call for Nigeria to ensure that internet and social media services remain connected during the upcoming elections. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

CPJ joins call for Nigeria to ensure internet and social media services remain connected during elections

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined more than 15 rights organizations and the #KeepItOn Coalition to call for Nigerian authorities to ensure that internet and social media services remain connected during upcoming elections, and safeguard internet speeds of websites and messaging applications. In early February, Nigeria’s federal government denied rumors of plans to shut down…

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Ugandan journalists sit outside the office of the Daily Monitor, which was closed on May 20, 2013, by armed police. The Monitor's website was recently ordered to suspend publication over a regulatory dispute. (Isaac Kasamani/AFP)

Ugandan regulator orders news website suspended and threatens criminal charges

Nairobi, February 12, 2019–Ugandan authorities should withdraw a directive ordering the suspension of the Daily Monitor news website, retract a threat of criminal proceedings against the publication, and refrain from using regulations to retaliate against journalists covering sensitive political issues, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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The Independence Arch is pictured in Accra, Ghana. Authorities have failed to hold anyone to account in recent attacks on journalists. (CPJ/Jonathan Rozen)

Ghana won’t have press freedom without accountability

Three bullets, fired at close range by two assassins on a black and blue Boxer motorbike on January 16, 2019, killed investigative journalist Ahmed Hussein-Suale Divela, according to Sammy Darko, a lawyer working on Divela’s case. Darko told CPJ over the phone that bystanders saw it happen. Ghana’s media community, international rights groups (including CPJ),…

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Ugandan military police are seen in Kampala on August 23, 2018. A BBC team was recently arrested while investigating corruption in the country. (Ronald Kabuubi/AP)

Ugandan authorities arrest BBC journalists investigating black market drug sales

Nairobi, February 7, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Ugandan authorities to immediately release a team of three journalists and one media worker detained in connection with their investigative reporting and to drop any investigation into a fourth journalist, who is part of the same team.

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A traffic policewoman pictured in Yaoundé in October 2018. A journalist was attacked outside his home in the city on January 31. (Reuters/Zohra Bensemra)

Cameroon Web reporter attacked with knife outside his home

Abidjan, February 1, 2019–Cameroonian authorities should immediately investigate an attack on Paul Chouta, a reporter for the privately owned news website Cameroon Web, and ensure that those who assaulted him are swiftly brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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FrontPageAfrica publisher Rodney Sieh, pictured on his release from prison in November 2013. Sieh says journalists in Liberia continue to face threats and harassment for their critical reporting. (AP/Mark Darrough)

Q&A: Rodney Sieh on how Liberia’s press is faring under Weah presidency

Rodney Sieh, editor-in-chief and publisher of Liberian investigative outlet FrontPageAfrica, knows first-hand the harassment and risks critical journalists in his country face. In 2013, CPJ documented how he was sentenced to prison over unpaid fines in a criminal defamation case.

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2019