In attempts to contain Ebola, Liberia censors its press
With the Ebola epidemic predicted to get worse, the Liberian government has taken action to silence news outlets critical of its handling of the health crisis which, according to Liberia’s Information Ministry, has claimed more than 1,000 lives in the country since March. Publishers have been harassed and forced to cease printing, and journalists were…
Radio Miraya journalist held for two weeks without charge in South Sudan
Nairobi, September 9, 2014–Authorities in South Sudan must present journalist George Livio to a court or release him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The reporter for Radio Miraya, a U.N.-backed station, has been held without charge by security forces for more than two weeks, according to local journalists and news reports.
Radio stations briefly jammed in Lesotho amid attempted coup
On August 30, 2014, the Lesotho military took control of police headquarters, jammed radio and television stations as well as telephone lines, and handed control of the tiny landlocked country to its deputy prime minister, according to news reports. Prime Minister Thomas Thabane fled to safety in South Africa for four days.
Somali journalist arrested after speaking out against censorship
Nairobi, September 3, 2014–Somali journalist Hassan Gessey, a radio director at the independent Dalsan Radio, is being held without charge by the National Intelligence and Security Agency after criticizing a directive to restrict reporting on military operations, according to news reports and local journalists.
Back-to-back display killings of journalists unprecedented
The apparent back-to-back murders of two American freelance journalists by the same group are unprecedented in CPJ’s history. The beheadings on camera in a two-week period of first James Foley and then Steven Sotloff appear to be an acceleration of a pattern–dating at least to Daniel Pearl’s killing in 2002–of criminal and insurgent groups displaying…
CongoNews editor held without charge after criticizing archbishop
Nairobi, August 28, 2014–An editor from the Democratic Republic of Congo has been held by police without charge for a week in connection with libel allegations over a column published in the privately owned bi-weekly CongoNews, according to local journalists and news reports.
News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, August 2014
US-Africa Leaders Summit President Barack Obama hosted the first US-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington D.C. this month. The discussion focused on trade and investment, but CPJ helped put press freedom on the agenda. At a time of unprecedented growth and change in Africa, journalists are under increasing pressure, with spikes in repression from Ethiopia to…
Somali authorities detain three journalists and shutter radio station
Nairobi, August 21, 2014 — The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned about the detention of three Shabelle Media Network journalists and the closure of their station. Security agents arrested 19 individuals at the network’s offices in the capital Mogadishu on August 15, and removed the transmitters of Radio Shabelle and Sky FM, two…