CPJ urges Gambia to abide by ruling, free Ebrima Manneh
New York, June 6, 2008—CPJ applauds a regional court’s ruling on Thursday declaring the 2006 arrest of Gambian journalist “Chief” Ebrima Manneh to be illegal and ordering his immediate release. The Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States also ordered the Gambian government to pay US$100,000 in damages to Manneh’s…
CPJ seeks probe into report that soccer star assaulted journalist
New York, June 2, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists today called for a thorough and transparent investigation into a scuffle Friday between members of Cameroon’s soccer team and journalists following a pre-game press conference. Cameroon’s star striker Samuel Eto’o allegedly assaulted a reporter during the incident, according to local journalists and news reports. Philippe Boney,…
CPJ mourns death of photographer in Kenya
New York, May 29, 2008—CPJ is deeply troubled by the death of award-winning photojournalist Trent Keegan, whose body was found on Wednesday in a ditch in Nairobi, Kenya. Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe told Agence France-Presse that Keegan was found with head injuries in a drainage trench along a central highway. Police have opened an inquest,…
CPJ condemns ban of Guinean paper over editorial
New York, May 28, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a two-month ban summarily handed to a Guinean independent newspaper last week over an editorial that raised critical questions about the health of President Lansana Conté’s second wife. The state-run National Communications Council decided on the ban, which is the third suspension of a newspaper…
Newspaper’s distributors beaten in Zimbabwe, papers burned
New York, May 27, 2008–CPJ condemns the beating of distributors for private weekly The Zimbabwean on Sunday last week. Unknown assailants hijacked and burned down the distributors’ truck, which was carrying 60,000 copies of the paper. “Attacking these media workers and burning newspapers is nothing but brutal censorship of one of the country’s last remaining…
Third Senegalese journalist handed criminal libel sentence in a week
New York, May 22, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists today reiterated a call to Senegalese authorities to end a pattern of criminal defamation prosecutions against the press after a court in the capital, Dakar, sentenced a journalist on Tuesday to a suspended prison term on a charge of “publishing false news,” according to news reports…
Three sentenced in Congolese journalist’s murder
New York, May 22, 2008–Three men accused of killing Congolese journalist Serge Maheshe in 2007 were convicted and sentenced to death, while two others were acquitted in a retrial that ended Wednesday. The trial failed to establish a clear motive for the crime, according to news reports and local journalists.
CPJ condemns criminal defamation convictions in Senegal
New York, May 15, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns criminal defamation convictions handed to two Senegalese journalists on Tuesday. The two were convicted for reporting on the contents of an anonymous letter critical of top security officials. A criminal court in the capital, Dakar, sentenced Director Jules Diop and Editor-in-Chief Serigne Saliou Samb of…