South Sudan daily Nation Mirror ordered to stop publishing
Nairobi, February 10, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the ban on independent newspaper Nation Mirror, which was ordered to stop publishing by National Security Service agents in South Sudan’s capital Juba, and calls on authorities to immediately reverse the order.
In Uganda, mob assaults radio journalists
A group of about 30 men with clubs attacked journalists Gerald Kankya and Simon Amanyire in the town of Fort Portal in western Uganda on January 23, 2015, Kankya told CPJ. The assailants beat the journalists, breaking one of Kankya’s teeth and bruising his legs and arms, the journalist said. Amanyire escaped without serious injury.
News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, January 2015
Putting Charlie Hebdo in context When masked gunmen raided the office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on January 7, killing 12 people including eight journalists, the media turned to the Committee to Protect Journalists to put the attack in context and comment on the repercussions for press freedom worldwide. CPJ’s experts and directors gave…
After Charlie Hebdo attack, vigils, protests and publishing bans
Protests against the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo were held in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Middle East and parts of Africa over the weekend, as crowds demonstrated against the magazine’s portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad, according to news reports.
Five journalists killed when gunmen ambush convoy in South Sudan
Nairobi, January 27, 2015–Five journalists were killed on Sunday when unidentified gunmen ambushed an official convoy in South Sudan’s Western Bahr al Ghazal state, according to local journalists and news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the attack and calls on authorities to apprehend the perpetrators and hold them to account.
Tanzania bans circulation of regional weekly
Nairobi, January 27, 2015–Tanzanian authorities banned circulation of the privately owned regional weekly The East African on January 21, citing the newspaper’s lack of registration, according to news reports. Local journalists said they believed the paper was shut because of its critical coverage of the government.
CPJ welcomes release of six Eritrean journalists
Nairobi, January 23, 2015–Six Eritrean journalists who worked for the government-controlled station Radio Bana have been released from jail, according to Eritrean journalists in exile who spoke to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The journalists–Basilos Zemo, Bereket Misguina, Ghirmai Abraham, Meles Nguse, Petros Teferi, and Yirgalem Fesseha–were among the Radio Bana staff arrested in a…
DRC halts Internet access and cellphone services amid protests
New York, January 22, 2015–Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday shut down Internet access and SMS service for mobile phones throughout the country after nationwide demonstrations led to deadly clashes with police, according to news reports.
Burundian journalist arrested, charged after not revealing source
Nairobi, January 21, 2015–Burundian authorities imprisoned the director of the privately owned Radio Publique Africaine on Tuesday and charged him with complicity in murder, according to news reports. The arrest followed the station’s broadcast of an interview in which an unidentified guest said he was involved in the September murder of three Italian nuns, news…