May 24, 2006 Posted: June 12, 2006 George D. Watkins, Radio Veritas ATTACKED Watkins, a journalist for the Catholic Church-owned Radio Veritas, was assaulted by State Security Services (SSS) agents while reporting on the SSS’s alleged enlistment of a former rebel commander, according to the independent daily The Analyst and the Press Union of Liberia.
MARCH 10, 2006 Posted March 21, 2006 Peter Nimely Toby, The Analyst ATTACKED, THREATENED Armed and masked men assaulted and threatened Toby, sports editor for the independent newspaper The Analyst in the capital, Monrovia, the newspaper reported. The men jumped out of a black jeep, beat Toby with guns, and threatened him with death.
Overviewby Julia Crawford With the rule of law weak in many African countries, journalists regularly battle threats and harassment, not only from governments but also from rogue elements, such as militias. Repressive legislation is used in many countries to silence journalists who write about sensitive topics such as corruption, mismanagement, and human rights abuses. If…
Liberia Conditions for the Liberian press have greatly improved since President Charles Taylor stepped down and accepted exile in Nigeria in August 2003 amid a bloody rebellion. Taylor’s departure paved the way for peace accords between the main rebel groups and the government, bringing relative stability to the country. However, years of civil conflict and…
MARCH 4, 2005 Posted: March 28, 2005 Forum CENSORED A court in the capital, Monrovia, ordered the offices of the privately owned weekly Forum shuttered for “contempt of court” after the paper’s managing editor allegedly missed several earlier summonses in connection with an ongoing civil libel case. The court also issued an arrest warrant for…
Although the number of journalists in prison in Africa at the end of 2003 was lower than the previous year, African journalists still faced a multitude of difficulties, including government harassment and physical assaults. Many countries in Africa retain harsh press laws. In the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, some…
The brutal murder of a French journalist in the Ivory Coast in October highlighted the lack of security in the country in 2003. The killing came after the collapse of the government of national reconciliation in September, when rebels walked out and accused President Laurent Gbagbo of refusing to fully implement the peace process. Despite…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is troubled by the recent criminal charges brought against journalists working for the private weekly newspaper Telegraph. On January 16, Editor-in-Chief Philip Moore Jr., Managing Editor Adolphus Karnuah, and Subeditor Robert Kpadeh Jr. were arrested and brought to the Magistrate Court in the capital, Monrovia, where they were charged with “criminal malevolence.”
New York, July 23, 2003—French photographer Patrick Robert, who was injured while on assignment in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, for the U.S.-based weekly Time magazine, was flown out of the country this morning. Robert was hit by bullets in his back and arm on July 19 while covering the recent increase in fighting between forces loyal…
Although the Kenya-based East African Standard, one of Africa’s oldest continuously published newspapers, marked its 100th anniversary in November, journalism remains a difficult profession on the continent, with adverse government policies and multifaceted economic woes still undermining the full development of African media.