2022

New York, May 23, 2022 — In response to news reports and statements from local rights groups that the Hargeisa Regional Court in the breakaway region of Somaliland sentenced journalists Mohamed Abdi Sheikh, known as Ilig, and Abdijabar Mohamed Hussein to 16 months imprisonment for subversion and false news on Monday, the Committee to Protect…

Abuja, May 20, 2022 — Nigerian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Olamilekan Hammed Adewale Bashiru, who has been arbitrarily detained since May 13, and allow him to work without intimidation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On May 13, Nigerian Department of State Security (DSS) officers arrested Bashiru, founder of the privately…

Dakar, May 19, 2022 – Activists opposed to France’s influence in Africa should not scapegoat journalists attached to French-speaking international media, and authorities in Burkina Faso should ensure that all members of the press can report freely on public events, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. Fanny Naoro-Kabré, a journalist for TV5 Monde, a…

On March 31, 2022, Senegal’s official broadcast media regulator, the National Council for Audiovisual Regulation (known by its French acronym, CNRA), announced a 72-hour suspension of all programing by local broadcasters ZIK FM and Sen TV for “repeated breaches of ethics” that violated “principles of objectivity, neutrality, fairness, and balance,” according to a press release…

Kinshasa, May 17, 2022 – Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo must ensure the immediate release of journalists Patrick Lola and Christian Bofaya, who have been arbitrarily detained without charge for five months in the central prison of Mbandaka, the provincial capital of Equateur, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On January…

Nairobi, May 16, 2022–The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday condemned Ethiopia’s expulsion of Economist correspondent Tom Gardner, following the revocation of his press accreditation on Friday, May 13. Gardner’s expulsion came almost a year after Ethiopian authorities similarly expelled New York Times reporter Simon Marks and within the context of a deteriorating press freedom…

Dakar, May 12, 2022 — Authorities in Chad should cease their harassment of reporter Olivier Memnguidé and ensure journalists can cover events of public interest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On April 20, the Chadian gendarmerie, a military police force, arrested Memnguidé, a correspondent for the privately owned radio station Oxygène, as he…

Nairobi, May 12, 2022 — Ethiopian authorities must thoroughly investigate the detention of journalist Gobeze Sisay and ensure that members of the press are not held for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. At about 10 a.m. on May 1, a group of eight armed men in plainclothes stormed Gobeze’s residence in…

Lusaka, May 11, 2022 – Zimbabwean authorities should immediately drop all charges against journalists Blessed Mhlanga and Chengeto Chidi, as well as Moses Hakata, and let them work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Saturday, May 7, police arrested both journalists after they photographed officers attempting to detain an opposition lawmaker in…

Dakar, May 10, 2022 — Congolese authorities should immediately drop all criminal proceedings against journalists Albert Muhila, Dieu Agba, and Patrick Gbondo, and reform the country’s laws to ensure journalists are not jailed in connection with their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On April 22, officers with the Congolese National Police Mobile…