South African journalist arrested, threatened
Cape Town, South Africa, January 29, 2014–South African authorities should drop charges against a journalist who was roughed up and detained after photographing police officers allegedly involved in bribery, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Ricky Dire, a journalist with the Daily Sun, also received death threats.
South Sudanese towns suffer information vacuum
“This is the worst situation I ever reported since I started reporting in 2007,” BBC Media Action producer Manyang David Mayar told me after he left the restive town of Bor, Jonglei State in South Sudan. Forced to walk long distances carrying his suitcase on his head to escape the fighting in Bor, Mayar drank…
Nigerian photographer shot by unidentified assailants
Unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle shot Callistus Ewelike at close range in front of his house in Nyanya, Abuja, at night on January 13, 2014, news reports said. The journalist’s neighbours rushed him to a local hospital, where he underwent surgery for injuries to his neck, the reports said. The assailants did not take any…
Ethiopian journalist on prison odyssey needs medical care
“When I grow up will I go to jail like my dad?” This was the shattering question that the five-year-old son of imprisoned Ethiopian journalist Woubshet Taye asked his mother after a recent prison visit. Woubshet’s son, named Fiteh (meaning “justice”), has accompanied his mother on a wayward tour of various prisons since his father…
News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, December 2013
End-of-year Impact As 2013 draws to a close, CPJ looks back on the highlights of the year, when we stepped in and advocated for journalists and news outlets at risk around the world. Thank you for all you have done to support us, and please continue to join us in our important work.