2020

Nairobi, July 1, 2020 — Authorities in Somaliland should immediately withdraw security personnel from the studios of the privately owned Universal TV and Star TV stations, and allow the stations to reopen and the journalists return to work without interference, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 25, police officers ordered journalists to…

Nairobi, June 30, 2020 – In response to a nationwide internet shutdown in Ethiopia and a police raid on the Oromia Media Network, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “Ethiopian authorities’ persistence of old patterns of censorship in response to crises, when the public most needs access to timely news and information,…

Abuja, June 30, 2020 – Nigerian authorities should investigate the attack on journalist Ike-Jacobs Nwosu and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 15, Uche Ogbuagu, a legislator in Nigeria’s southeastern Imo state, approached Nwosu, a reporter for the privately owned Eastern Lead Express newspaper, while he was…

New York, June 29, 2020 — Authorities in Botswana should drop all charges against journalists David Baaitse and Kenneth Mosekiemang, and allow them to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 2:30 p.m. on June 18, intelligence agents arrested Baaitse, a reporter for the privately owned Weekend Post weekly, and Mosekiemang,…

Nairobi, June 26, 2020 – Tanzanian authorities should immediately restore Tanzania Daima’s license and allow all newspapers to publish freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In a June 23 statement, Tanzania’s Information Services Department, which registers print media, announced it would revoke Tanzania Daima’s distribution and publication license as of June 24, according…

New York, June 25, 2020 — In response to the Economic Community of West African States Community Court of Justice’s ruling today that Togolese authorities illegally shut down the country’s internet in September 2017, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “Today’s court decision is a welcome reaffirmation that internet shutdowns pose a…

Between April 3, 2020, and May 28, 2020, officials in the western Uganda district of Kabale arrested journalist Rogers Asiimwe of Freedom Radio; assaulted journalist Bob Rumanzi, also of Freedom Radio; and temporarily confiscated the phone of Richard Akandwanaho, then of Voice of Kigezi radio, the journalists told CPJ in interviews via messaging apps.  …

New York, June 23, 2020 — Zimbabwean prosecutors should drop the charges filed against two journalists for violating the country’s COVID-19 lockdown regulations and ensure that they can report freely about alleged abuses by security forces, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Frank Chikowore, a freelance journalist, and Samuel Takawira, a reporter for the…

New York, le 17 juin 2020 — Les autorités de Djibouti doivent cesser de harceler les journalistes travaillant pour le radiodiffuseur La Voix de Djibouti et s’assurer que la presse puisse couvrir les affaires d’intérêt public sans intimidation, a déclaré aujourd’hui le Comité pour la protection des journalistes. Le 5 juin, la police a arrêté…

Abuja, June 18, 2020 — Authorities in Sierra Leone should release journalist Sylvia Olayinka Blyden immediately and drop the charges against her, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On May 1, police arrested Blyden, publisher of the Awareness Times newspaper, at her home in Freetown for alleged “cyber-related” offenses, according to Messeh Leone, a…