In Zimbabwe, business news agency’s offices raided
The telecommunications company Econet Wireless and its affiliated bank, Steward Bank, obtained a court order on March 16, 2015, that compelled the Source, an independent online business news agency, to withdraw two of its stories and allowed police and technology experts to search the premises, news reports said.
Authorities arrest Shabelle Media Network journalists, close station again
Nairobi, April 7, 2015–Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency raided the Shabelle Media Network offices on April 3, arrested staff and shuttered the privately owned stations Radio Shabelle and Sky FM, according to local journalists. The raid came after the network aired a clip of the militant group Al-Shabab claiming responsibility for the attack on…
News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, March 2015
Press Uncuffed: Free the Press On March 26, CPJ partnered with students at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism and Knight chair and Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter Dana Priest to launch the Press Uncuffed: Free the Press campaign at the Newseum in Washington. The campaign aimed to raise awareness about nine…
Nigerian soldiers confine Al-Jazeera journalists to hotel
Abuja, Nigeria, March 26, 2015–Nigerian military authorities on Tuesday confined two Al-Jazeera journalists to their hotel room and have forbidden them from leaving, according to a statement published on Wednesday by the Nigerian Defense Headquarters and both journalists who spoke to CPJ. The journalists were covering a story on military activities in the area as…
In election year, Nigeria’s press feeling the pressure
“Nobody is safe. Not the voter, not the journalist, not anybody!” The fears of Femi Adesina, president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, is echoed by stakeholders and observers of Nigeria’s general election. Amid the tension in the run up to presidential and federal parliamentary elections on March 28, and governor and state parliamentary elections…
Acclaimed journalist Marques de Morais on trial for defamation in Angola
On Tuesday, less than a week after receiving an award for his journalism from the London-based freedom of expression group Index on Censorship, veteran journalist Rafael Marques de Morais will stand trial in Angola on charges of criminal defamation.
South African police repeatedly force journalists to delete photos
South Africa is synonymous with crime in the eyes of many–as evidenced by the recent mugging of a TV crew live on camera–but for the press, a more sinister threat to freedom lies in the growing number of cases where it is the police, in flagrant denial of their orders, who intimidate and threaten journalists,…
Nigerian journalist threatened, rebuffed by police
Lagos, Nigeria, March 20, 2015–A Nigerian journalist told the Committee to Protect Journalists he received threats on Sunday and reported them to the police but had been rebuffed. CPJ condemns the threats and calls on Nigerian authorities to ensure the journalist’s safety.