Two Brazzaville weeklies suspended; CPJ seeks reversal
New York, December 20, 2011–Authorities in the Republic of Congo should immediately lift the months-long suspensions imposed last week against two private weeklies in reprisal for articles critical of government officials, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Somali government should probe journalist’s murder
New York, December 19, 2011–Somali authorities must pursue all leads in investigating the murder on Sunday of a broadcast journalist who had reported receiving several recent threats. A gunman in a military uniform shot freelance reporter Abdisalan Sheikh Hassan, according to local and international reports.
Criminal probe targets AP, Reuters cameras on Mandela
New York, December 16, 2011–South African authorities announced on Thursday the launch of a criminal probe against international news agencies The Associated Press and Reuters for installing cameras outside the home of anti-Apartheid figure Nelson Mandela, according to news reports.
In Nairobi, plans to improve aid to exiled journalists
Kassahun Yilma left Ethiopia quickly in December 2009. He didn’t have time to save money for the journey, choose a place to go, arrange housing or a job. He left his wife, his mother, his house and all his friends behind. Yilma didn’t know what lay ahead. He only knew that if he stayed, he…
Pursuing justice for Gambia’s Deyda Hydara
December 16 will be the seventh anniversary of the killing of Deyda Hydara, the dean of Gambian journalism. It is also the 20th anniversary of the first issue of The Point, the courageously independent-minded daily that Hydara founded and directed for many years. He was murdered in a drive-by shooting as he drove himself and…
Three newspapers suspended in Ivory Coast
New York, December 14, 2011–The government of Ivory Coast should immediately lift its suspensions on the circulations of three newspapers that published critical commentaries on the country’s five-month post-election conflict and its aftermath, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Mission Journal: Secrets bill spurs South African press
Irrespective of whether South Africa actually implements the most draconian parts of state secrets legislation now under consideration, the media in the continent’s most open democracy already feel under threat. The prospect of 25-year jail sentences for journalists publishing “classified” information has galvanized disparate news outlets and journalists groups to work together like never before.
Kenyan journalist threatened for his reporting
New York, December 9, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the safety of Kenyan reporter Robert Wanyonyi who has been repeatedly threatened after covering a melee between police and local villagers that left as many as seven people dead.
Awramba Times is latest Ethiopian paper to vanish
A couple of weeks ago, newspaper editor Dawit Kebede, an International Press Freedom award winner, fled Ethiopia. Sadly, Dawit’s Awramba Times is the latest in a long list of Amharic-language private publications to vanish from the market following the incarceration or flight into exile of their editors.