Shabelle off air and staff evicted, fearing for safety
The young staff members of Radio Shabelle, whose offices were in the relatively safe section of Mogadishu next to the airport, are no longer feeling safe. On Saturday, while presenters were on the air, heavily armed security forces raided the Shabelle offices and arrested the three-dozen staff members at gunpoint, according to a statement by…
Universal TV journalist dies of injuries in Somalia
Nairobi, October 28, 2013–Journalist Mohamed Mohamud, commonly known as “Tima’ade,” succumbed to gunshot wounds on Saturday and died at Medina Hospital in the capital, Mogadishu, local journalists told CPJ. Unidentified gunmen shot Mohamed, a reporter for the popular, privately owned, U.K.-based Universal TV, on his way to work on October 22 in the Wadajir district…
Somalia, it’s time for action
On the morning of Tuesday, October 22, 2013, Somali television journalist Mohamed Mohamud, nicknamed “Tima’ade,” was seriously wounded when unknown armed men attacked him on his way home from work. He was shot more than five times. Colleagues and local residents in Wadajir district, where the attack took place, immediately rushed him to Madina Hospital in…
In Sierra Leone, journalists held on libel, sedition charges
Lagos, Nigeria, October 24, 2013–Authorities in Sierra Leone should immediately release two reporters being held on charges of sedition and libel in connection with a story criticizing President Ernest Bai Koroma, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Somali gunmen attempt to kill a Universal TV journalist
Nairobi, October 22, 2013–Somali authorities must work quickly to identify the motive in today’s murder attempt on a broadcast reporter and bring the perpetrators to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The journalist, Mohamed Mohamud, has been hospitalized with serious injuries.
Duping pirates and endangering journalists
It could have been the script for a John Le Carré intrigue. On Saturday October 12, Belgian security agents arrested Mohamed Abdi Hassan, a kingpin of Somali piracy known as “Afweyne” (Big Mouth), and his associate Mohammed M. Aden, nicknamed Tiiceey, a former governor of Himan and Heeb province.
Assailants throw grenades at radio station in Puntland
Nairobi, October 16, 2013–Unidentified assailants threw two grenades at the Galkayo offices of Radio Daljir in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland on Tuesday night, according to news reports and local journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the attack on Radio Daljir, which has been targeted in the past, and calls on authorities to identify…
Africa’s journalists honor jailed editor Woubshet Taye
Journalists and media owners across Africa gave Ethiopian journalist Woubshet Taye a standing ovation in Cape Town on Saturday night at the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards 2013, but he wasn’t there to see it. Instead his wife and son accepted the Free Press Award on his behalf. Part of the citation for the award…