New York, July 6, 2005—Unidentified assailants kidnapped and brutally beat a commentator for the independent Radio Kledu yesterday in the Malian capital, Bamako. Hamidou Diarra was found several hours later about 10 miles (15 kilometers) outside of Bamako, Radio Kledu director Abel Koné told CPJ. No suspects were immediately identified. Local journalists said they believe…
JULY 5, 2005 Posted: July 7, 2005 Hamidou Diarra, Radio Kledu ATTACKED Unidentified assailants kidnapped and brutally beat a commentator for the independent Radio Kledu in the Malian capital, Bamako. Hamidou Diarra was found several hours later about 10 miles (15 kilometers) outside of Bamako, Radio Kledu director Abel Koné told CPJ. No suspects were…
Around the world, 122 journalists were in prison at the end of 2004 for practicing their profession, 16 fewer than the year before. International advocacy campaigns, including those waged by the Committee to Protect Journalists, helped win the early release of a number of imprisoned journalists, notably six independent writers and reporters in Cuba.
There were 138 journalists in prison around the world at the end of 2003 who were jailed for practicing their profession. The number is the same as last year. An analysis of the reasons behind this is contained in the introduction on page 10. At the beginning of 2004, CPJ sent letters of inquiry to…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is disturbed by the continued imprisonment of three journalists working for privately owned Sido radio station. According to local sources, police in Ségou, a city in southern Mali, arrested program host Chériff Haïdara; radio director Mamoutou Traoré; and reporter and program host Gata Ba on October 20, 24, and 26, respectively.
Silence reigned supreme in Eritrea, where the entire independent press was under a government ban and 11 journalists languished in jail at year’s end. Clamorous, deadly power struggles raged in Zimbabwe over land and access to information, and in Burundi over ethnicity and control of state resources. South Africa, Senegal, and Benin remained relatively liberal…
Although Mali’s press laws include punitive presumption-of-guilt standards, the media environment is reasonably liberal compared with many other African countries. Mali also has a strikingly diverse press corps, with about 40 private newspapers, some in French and others in vernacular languages, and about 100 radio stations, one fifth of them unlicensed.
New York, May 22, 2001 — The head of Mali’s public broadcasting service is serving 30 days in jail on a criminal defamation charge brought by the local union of judges. On May 16, 2001, a court in Segou, some 80 miles north of the capital, Bamako, convicted Sidiki Konaté, head of the Office of…
PRESS COVERAGE OF ARMED CONFLICTS CONTINUED TO STIR THE HOSTILITY of governments and rebel factions alike and claim reporters’ lives, but the prominent role of the press in the often-volatile process of democratization also brought unprecedented challenges to journalists working in Africa. CPJ confirmed that in 2000, five journalists were killed specifically because of their…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely disturbed by a National Assembly member’s recent attempt to strangle journalist Chahana Takiou of the private biweekly newspaper L’Independant. This bizarre incident occurred August 30 inside the National Assembly building in the capital, Bamako, CPJ sources say. Takiou was apparently reporting a story when Mamadou Gassama Diaby, a member of parliament from the ruling Democratic Alliance of Mali (ADEMA), assaulted him. Diaby punched and kicked Takiou several times before seizing him by the neck and attempting to throttle him.