Eritrean president slams ‘CIA-financed’ media
Last week, President Isaias Afeworki of Eritrea, Africa’s leading jailer of journalists, discussed press freedom during an extensive interview with Swedish broadcaster TV4. Afeworki, a revered guerrilla commander who led this Red Sea country to nationhood in 1993, banned Eritrea’s budding private media in 2001 and threw journalists in secret prisons without charge or trial.…
Journalist El Malick Seck freed by Senegal presidential pardon
On April 24, 2009, journalist El Malick Seck, who was serving a three-year prison sentence over an editorial implicating President Abdoulaye Wade and his son in an alleged money laundering scandal, was released on presidential pardon, according to local journalists and news reports. The sentence had been upheld in February. He was first imprisoned on…
Malawi opposition radio station still off the air
New York, May 27, 2009–A magistrate in Malawi should allow an opposition radio station sealed by police during general elections on May 19 to reopen, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ also called on authorities to drop criminal charges against two station presenters.
Gabon targets media over coverage of Bongo’s health
New York, May 27, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the government of Gabon’s crackdown on independent media coverage of President Omar Bongo’s hospitalization and potential succession issues. Bongo, Africa’s longest-serving head of state, has been in a Spanish hospital since earlier this month amid conflicting reports about his condition.
Kidnapped journalists in Somalia reportedly ill
New York, May 26, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists is very concerned about the well-being of two captive journalists, a Canadian and an Australian, who urged their respective governments to work harder for their release in a phone call with a reporter on Sunday. Both journalists said they were sick and being held in harsh…
Reporter dies of gunshot injuries; 4th fatality this year
New York, May 26, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply saddened by news that radio reporter Nur Muse Hussein died today as a result of gunshot wounds suffered while covering fighting in April. Hussein, left, a veteran correspondent for Radio IQK, suffered two bullet wounds to his right leg while reporting on clashes between…
CPJ concerned for kidnapped journalists in Somalia
New York, May 26, 2009– Following a Western news agency report in which a Canadian and Australian journalist held hostage in war-torn Mogadishu for nine months complained of poor health and urged their respective governments to help free them, CPJ issued the following statement today:
