CPJ joins call for Nigeria to drop anti-social media legislation
The Committee to Protect Journalists alongside 19 Nigerian, African and international organisations today signed an open letter addressed to the upper chamber of Nigeria’s parliament calling for the rejection of a bill which would undermine press freedom, stifle public opinion, and criminalize freedom of expression in Nigeria.
In Nigeria, journalist beaten outside court, has camera seized
At least 10 people, including officers of the Nigerian Prisons Service, allegedly beat Emmanuel Elebeke, a journalist with the independent daily Vanguard, at the premises of a high court in the capital Abuja on November 12, 2015, according to news reports. The reporter, who also takes photographs for the paper, told CPJ he was attacked…
Tanzania’s press wait to see if new president will reform troubling media laws
Elections in Tanzania passed smoothly in October, but several local journalists and a media lawyer told me the spectre of anti-press laws is casting a pall over critical reporting in the country and that hopes for legal reform under the newly elected President John Pombe Magufuli remain muted.
China, Egypt imprison record numbers of journalists
Egypt is second only to China as the world’s worst jailer of journalists in 2015. Worldwide, the number of journalists behind bars for their work declined moderately during the year, but a handful of countries continue to use systematic imprisonment to silence criticism. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser
Slideshow: Journalists freed
While just under 200 journalists are behind bars, CPJ witnessed several memorable releases in 2015, including in Vietnam, Ethiopia, and even secretive Eritrea. Some of the journalists had spent years behind bars; they endured isolation and several say they were tortured. This year, CPJ’s advocacy contributed to the release of at least 31 journalists. Some…
CPJ urges South Africa to revise cybercrime bill that limits press freedom
New York, December 10, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the South African government to revise provisions in the proposed Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill that would limit journalists’ ability to work. Under the bill, journalists and members of the public could be prosecuted for possessing or disclosing state information, reports said.
Ugandan journalist severely injured covering peaceful procession
Isaac Kugonza, a cameraman with the privately owned station Delta TV, was seriously injured while covering a peaceful procession led by Kampala mayor Erias Lukwago on November 16, 2015, in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, according to news reports. Lukwago is seeking re-election as mayor of Kampala, reports said.