Africa

  

Zimbabwe attorney general urges releases; New York Times reporter still held

New York, April 4, 2008—Zimbabwe’s acting attorney general recommended today that the police release a foreign correspondent and another man accused of working as a journalist in custody since yesterday. Yesterday afternoon, police raided one of the hotels used by foreign journalists, the York Lodge in the Harare suburbs, and arrested New York Times reporter…

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Journalist Beaten by Police

APRIL 1, 2008 Posted June 11, 2008 Dave Amusa, The National Mirror ATTACKED A journalist was beaten by police while reporting on council poll results from the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission premises in Port Harcourt on March 31.

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Journalist abducted by suspected security agents

MARCH 3, 2008 Posted March 28, 2008 Jacques Blaise Mvié, La Nouvelle PresseKIDNAPPED Director Jacques Blaise Mvié of the private weekly La Nouvelle Presse told CPJ an unidentified man in plain clothes jumped from a gray Toyota Prado 4 x 4 and forced him at gunpoint in the car as he was walking away from…

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In Senegal, police hinder station’s coverage of violent protests

New York, March 31, 2008—Police in the Senegalese capital of Dakar assaulted a reporter who was covering a violent anti-government protest on Sunday, according to local journalists and news reports. They later raided the reporter’s station and confiscated footage. Walf TV reporter Ousmane Mangane told CPJ that riot police used Tasers on him as he…

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Draconian accreditation laws used to censor Zimbabwe elections 

New York, March 27, 2008—The Zimbabwean government is using journalist accreditation laws to prevent most major international media outlets and some local journalists from covering the country’s elections on Saturday. According to local journalists and the South Africa National Editor’s Forum, only a handful of foreign correspondents are accredited, while major media groups such as…

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Lone foreign correspondent forced out of Chad

New York, March 21, 2008–The Chadian government effectively forced the country’s only permanent foreign correspondent to leave the country on Thursday after withdrawing her work permit without explanation, according to news reports. Sonia Rolley, a journalist reporting for several France-based media outlets, including Radio France Internationale (RFI), Agence France-Presse (AFP), French daily Libération and international…

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Rwandan newspaper editor flees, publication suspended

New York, March 21, 2008—The founder and editor of the private bimonthly newspaper Umuco went into hiding Tuesday, a day before a police raid on his residence in Kigali. A police statement said Bonaventure Bizumuremyi faces prosecution on defamation charges for “insulting the president.” Police spokesman Willy Higiro made an announcement over Radio Rwanda on…

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CPJ calls on Sierra Leone to decriminalize libel laws

Dear Mr. President, We are writing to express our grave concern about the recent arrest of an editor and a publisher under criminal libel laws, despite your pledges to decriminalize libel cases in Sierra Leone.

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Environmental publication banned

MARCH 14, 2008 Posted April 22, 2008 Croissance Saine Environnement CENSORED Gabon’s state-run National Communications Council indefinitely suspended Croissance Saine Environnement, a monthly newspaper published by a local environmental advocacy group of the same name, in connection with a series of stories critical of a government official, according to news reports and local journalists.

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Ugandan political radio shows allowed to resume broadcast

New York, March 14, 2008—Police in Uganda should respect a court ruling that lifts a ban on two live radio programs, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The court decision today allows two live political shows on Life FM in Fort Portal to resume broadcasting, but the station has since received a warning from…

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