2022

Dakar, December 21, 2022—In response to news reports that a special criminal court in Yaoundé Tuesday sentenced Amadou Vamoulké, the former managing director of the state-owned Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV) broadcaster, to 12 years in prison and 47 million FCFA (US$76,000) in fines, the Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the sentence in this statement. …

Dakar, December 20, 2022 – In response to news reports that Senegalese authorities re-arrested journalist Pape Alé Niang on Monday, less than a week after his release on bail, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of alarm on Tuesday: “Authorities in Senegal should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Pape Alé Niang and cease all legal…

Nairobi, December 20, 2022 –Ethiopian police should unconditionally release online journalist Meskerem Abera and cease harassing members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Federal police detained Meskerem, the founder and editor of private YouTube-based media outlet Ethio Nikat Media, in the capital Addis Ababa on December 13, her husband, Fitsum Gebremichael, told CPJ by phone….

On April 13, police in Russia’s Khakassiya republic arrested Mikhail Afanasyev and seized his digital devices. Afanasyev, chief editor of the online magazine Novy Fokus, was detained based on an article about riot police in southern Siberia refusing to serve in Ukraine. He faces a possible 10-year prison sentence for spreading “false” information.  It’s not surprising for…

Dakar, December 15, 2022—In response to a Senegalese court’s decision to release journalist Pape Alé Niang on bail with strict conditions, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement Thursday calling for an end to this legal harassment: “The fact that journalist Pape Alé Niang is no longer in a jail cell in Senegal…

The number of journalists jailed around the world set yet another record in 2022. In a year marked by conflict and repression, authoritarian leaders doubled down on their criminalization of independent reporting, deploying increasing cruelty to stifle dissenting voices and undermine press freedom.  Published December 14, 2022 By Arlene Getz/CPJ Editorial Director Worst Offenders |…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined six other press freedom and human rights groups in a letter Monday calling on Somali authorities to drop the criminal charges filed against Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, a press freedom advocate and freelance journalist. Authorities arrested Abdalle, secretary-general of the Somali Journalists Syndicate press freedom group, on October 11, after…

New York, December 5, 2022 – In response to Burkina Faso authorities’ suspension of programming by French broadcaster Radio France Internationale (RFI), the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement Monday condemning the decision: “Burkina Faso authorities should reverse their suspension of RFI programming and ensure that journalists can work without fear of being…

On October 25, 2022, Bono Emakitshi, administrator of the Lodji territory in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s central Sankuru province, issued a directive suspending the operations of privately owned broadcasters Radio Losanganya and Radio Grand Tam-tam. Bono also ordered the outlets’ transmitters to be seized until further notice. Bono alleged that the outlets broadcast…

Kinshasa, November 23, 2022 – Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo should immediately release journalist Olivier Makambu, drop all legal proceedings against him, and reform the country’s laws to ensure journalism is not criminalized, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.  On Wednesday, November 16, two police officers arrested Makambu, program director of…