New charges against Ethiopian publications further diminish critical voices
Five independent magazines and a weekly newspaper have been charged by Ethiopia’s Justice Ministry, a move that may add to the long lists of shuttered publications and Ethiopian journalists in exile. In a press release issued August 4, the ministry accused the journals of publishing false information, inciting violence, and undermining public confidence in the…
Kenyan journalists, CPJ launch new initiative to improve security
Today, the Committee to Protect Journalists in collaboration with local media organizations launched a journalist security guide and protocol designed specifically for the Kenyan press. The initiative stems from research conducted in 2013 by the same group of organizations, the Kenya Media Working Group, in light of acute and unique security challenges for the Kenyan…
South Sudan closes radio station, arrests editor
Nairobi, August 18, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns South Sudanese authorities’ shutdown of the popular Catholic-run Bakhita Radio station in Juba, the capital, on Saturday and the ongoing detention of the station’s news editor. Security agents raided the outlet in the morning and arrested four staff members, according to the station’s managing director and…
Liberian police beat journalist covering ebola protest
Liberian police on August 11, 2014, assaulted Henry Karmo, a journalist with the independent FrontPageAfrica newspaper, while he was photographing protesters in the capital, Monrovia, demonstrating against the imposition of a 90-day state of emergency by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, according to news reports. The directive was aimed at controlling the spread of the deadly…
Police arrest Djibouti journalist covering demonstration
Nairobi, August 12, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the release of Mohamed Ibrahim Waiss, a radio journalist who was taken into custody on Friday in a suburb of the capital, Djibouti City, and accused of incitement and publishing false news. Police arrested Mohamed, a journalist for the opposition online radio station La Voix…
As elections approach, fear of more attacks on Congolese press
Map by Rachael Levy. Sources: Congolese organizations, news reports, and CPJ research. Not all data has been independently verified by CPJ. Tensions are rising in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after a government official announced recently he would support a change in the constitution to allow President Joseph Kabila, who has been in power…
In Somalia, Puntland authorities detain radio journalist
On August 6, 2014, police in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland detained Fatima Yusuf, a reporter for the private broadcaster Radio Daljir, according to local journalists and news reports. Police raided Fatima’s hotel room in Puntland’s capital, Garowe, and also arrested two other journalists, Puntland TV reporter Khadro Mohamed and Kalsan TV reporter Abdinasir Da’ad.…
Freelance journalist in hiding over reports on South Sudan
Nairobi, August 6, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in South Sudan to ensure the safety of a freelance journalist who has been in hiding since late July. Abraham Agoth told CPJ that he fled his home in the northern state of Bahr el Ghazal on July 28, fearing arrest.
News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, July 2014
CPJ conducts fact-finding mission in Ukraine Muzaffar Suleymanov, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia Research Associate, traveled to Kiev on July 6 on a week-long fact-finding mission and spoke to more than a dozen local and international journalists about press freedom conditions in the country. Suleymanov also met with journalists who had covered or were covering…