Africa

2022

  

Proposed amendment to Mozambique’s anti-terror law threatens press freedom 

New York, June 7, 2022 — Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi should not sign amendments to the country’s anti-terror legislation into law and should instead ask parliament to change a sweeping clause that could criminalize reporting about the insurgency in northern Mozambique, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Tuesday. On June 3, the amendment bill…

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Police charge ZimLive editor Mduduzi Mathuthu with insulting the president 

Lusaka, June 6, 2022 – On Monday, police in Bulawayo in southwest Zimbabwe detained Mduduzi Mathuthu, editor of privately owned news website ZimLive, and charged him with insulting or undermining the authority of President Emmerson Mnangagwa over a tweet he wrote about the president’s fiscal policies, according to news reports and a statement from the regional press freedom group, Media Institute…

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Three DRC journalists get death threats for posts about conflict in the country’s east

Kinshasa, June 6, 2022 – Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo must ensure the safety of journalists Stanis Bujakera Tshiamala, Steve Wembi, and John Lungila and investigate the threats made against them, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Monday. Since Monday, May 30, Bujakera, a reporter with privately owned, France-based Jeune Afrique…

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Ethiopia detains journalists Bekalu Alamrew and Meaza Mohammed in ongoing media crackdown

Nairobi, June 3, 2022– The Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday called on Ethiopian authorities to unconditionally release Bekalu Alamrew and Meaza Mohammed, the latest journalists to be swept up in the country’s recent crackdown on the press.  At around 4 p.m. on Friday, May 27, security officers detained Bekalu, the founder and chief editor…

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Radio Jonglei

South Sudan state government suspends Radio Jonglei for five days over political coverage

On May 19, 2022, John Samuel Manyuon, minister of information and communication in South Sudan’s east-central Jonglei State, ordered the suspension of the local Radio Jonglei community broadcaster in Bor town, according to media reports, as well as Manyuon and managers at the radio station, who spoke with CPJ over the phone. The suspension was…

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Chernoh Alpha Bah

Sierra Leone publisher Chernoh Alpha Bah threatened with death, charges of treason 

Abuja, May 31, 2022 — Sierra Leone authorities must cease their harassment of the Africanist Press news site and its publisher, Chernoh Alpha Bah, and should investigate the death threats against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On May 4, Sierra Leone’s Office of National Security (ONS), a federal security agency, submitted a…

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Journalists Yayesew Shimelis and Temesgen Desalegn detained in Ethiopia

Nairobi, May 28, 2022– The Committee to Protect Journalists on Saturday called for the unconditional release of Ethiopian journalists Temesgen Desalegn and Yayesew Shimelis, and condemned authorities’ continued use of arrests to target members of the press.  At around 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 26, police officers detained Temesgen Desalegn, chief editor of privately owned Feteh magazine,…

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Cameroon sports journalist Eyong Macdella Bessong assaulted over accreditation card dispute

Dakar, May 26, 2022–Cameroonian authorities must identify and hold to account the policeman who assaulted journalist Eyong Macdella Bessong while she was covering a May 18 football match in Buea, the capital of the Southwest Region, and should hold accountable the stadium official who manhandled her and asked police to remove her from the property,…

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Three Congolese radio journalists stripped, beaten by intelligence agents

Kinshasa, May 25, 2022 — Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo must hold to account those responsible for stripping and beating journalists Cédar Sabiti, Samuel Matela, and Junior Batu Ngole while they were detained, and ensure that the press can report and comment on matters of public interest freely and without fear of…

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Ethiopian authorities arrest 11 employees of 4 independent media outlets

New York, May 24, 2022 – Ethiopian authorities should immediately release all recently arrested journalists and media workers and ensure that authorities cease harassing members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Authorities have arrested at least 11 journalists and media workers since May 19 in Amhara state and the capital Addis…

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2022