BURUNDI Under fire for alleged corruption and human rights abuses, the government of former rebel leader Pierre Nkurunziza cracked down on a wide range of critical voices, including those in the press, during its first year in power. Authorities imprisoned a journalist for five months after he allegedly slandered the state in a private barroom…
ALGERIA: 2 Djamel Eddine Fahassi, Alger Chaîne III IMPRISONED: May 6, 1995 Fahassi, a reporter for the state-run radio station Alger Chaîne III and a contributor to several Algerian newspapers, including the now-banned weekly of the Islamic Salvation Front, Al-Forqane, was abducted near his home in the al-Harrache suburb of the capital, Algiers, by four…
New York, January 3, 2007—A court in Burundi today rebuffed the government, ordering the release of three journalists and rejecting the prosecution’s claim that their reporting in connection with an alleged coup plot compromised public security. A panel of judges in the capital Bujumbura acquitted editor Serge Nibizi and journalist Domitile Kiramvu of Radio Publique…
New York, December 14, 2006—Three private radio journalists returned to prison today after their one-day trial in the capital, Bujumbura, according to local journalists. The three have been jailed for more than two weeks while a fourth journalist went into hiding after receiving a judicial summons. Since September, the government has cracked down on three…
New York, December 7, 2006–The number of journalists jailed worldwide for their work increased for the second consecutive year, and one in three is now an Internet blogger, online editor, or Web-based reporter, according to an analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
New York, November 29, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists demands that three radio journalists jailed in Burundi in the past week, including Matthias Manirakiza detained today, be released immediately. “This looks more and more like a campaign to silence respected independent broadcasters who have spearheaded investigative reporting on human rights abuses and corruption,” said CPJ…
New York, November 22, 2006–Two journalists for the prominent independent radio station Radio Publique Africaine (RPA) were arrested today in Burundi over a story about an alleged coup plot, according to several local sources. Editor Serge Nibizi and journalist Domitile Kiramvu were summoned for questioning, served with an arrest warrant, and imprisoned on charges which…
New York, October 2, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the ongoing campaign of intimidation by the authorities in Burundi against radio stations that have cast doubt on a government claim to have uncovered a coup plot. The State Prosecutor today questioned three journalists from three independent stations about their sources for a…