Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists urges you as chairman of the African Union to discuss with your fellow heads of state and government at your summit in the Gambian capital, Banjul, from July 1, the need to defend press freedom on the continent.
May 15, 2006 Posted: June 2, 2006 All Media THREATENED National Security Minister John Michuki warned local journalists that he would use force against local media outlets that criticized the government, according to local and international news reports. Referring to March raids on a prominent newspaper, The Standard, and a television station owned by the…
Update: May 12, 2006 Original Alert: February 28, 2006 Chaacha Mwita, The Standard Dennis Onyango, The Standard Ayub Savula, The Standard IMPRIONED, LEGAL ACTION Mwita, Onyango, and Savula of Kenya’s independent daily The Standard appeared in court on March 2, 2006, after 48 hours in police detention. They were charged with publishing “alarming statements” and…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned by a recent string of attacks on the media in Kenya, where your Excellency promised to strengthen press freedom and democratic institutions. Early this morning, police raided Kenya’s oldest newspaper, the Standard, and a television station owned by the Standard Group, temporarily disabling both media outlets. The raids are particularly troubling in light of events over the past two weeks, when police detained three journalists from the Standard’s weekend edition, charging them with publishing “alarming” statements, and raided two tabloid newspapers, detaining several journalists and issuing arrest warrants for four more.
New York, February 28, 2006—Police detained three journalists with the independent East African Standard for questioning today in connection with a story of political intrigue that ran in Saturday’s edition, the paper’s chief executive officer, Tom Mshindi, told the Committee to Protect Journalists. The weekend edition’s managing director, Chaacha Mwita, sub-editor Dennis Onyango, and reporter…
New York, February 21, 2006—Police in Kenya raided two tabloid newspapers on Monday, confiscating equipment and documents and arresting several journalists in the capital, Nairobi. Police also detained news vendors selling the so-called “alternative press” publications, which are known for provocative reporting on sex and political scandals. Local journalists told the Committee to Protect Journalists…
NOVEMBER 16, 2005 Posted: December 2, 2005 Kass FM CENSORED The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), an official regulatory body, suspended the privately owned radio station Kass FM, which broadcasts in the local Kalenjin language from the capital, Nairobi. Government spokesman Alfred Mutua accused the station of inciting ethnic hatred and violence, but local journalists…