New York, March 13, 2008—Niger’s official media regulator summarily suspended on Wednesday the FM broadcasts of France-based Radio France Internationale (RFI) for three months. Authorities accused RFI of discrediting the government in connection with a day-long series of programs on Monday about the detention of RFI correspondent Moussa Kaka.
Newspaper suspended over report on president’s wealth New York, March 12, 2008—Gabonese authorities banned on Tuesday a private newspaper for republishing a report on President Omar Bongo’s private wealth in France, according to local news reports. The original story appeared in the French daily Le Monde at the end of January. Gabon’s state-run National Communications…
Ethiopia: New York, March 6, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the recent arrest and two-week imprisonment of three journalists from Muslim-oriented newspapers on criminal defamation charges in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Editor Ezedin Mohamed and Publisher Maria Kadim of Al Kidus and Editor Ibrahim Mohamed of Selefia were arrestedon February 16 and held for nearly…
New York, March 3, 2008—Government soldiers raided three radio stations in Somalia on Sunday and detained the director of one of the stations, according to journalists who witnessed the events. The raids occurred after heavy fighting and looting over the weekend in the central area of the capital, Mogadishu. Journalists from Horn Afrik, Radio Shabelle,…
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…
FEBRUARY 5, 2008 Posted February 29, 2008 Ibrahim Souley, L’Enqueteur Soumana Idrissa Maiga, Director of L’Enqueteur LEGAL The editor and managing director of L’Enqueteur were each sentenced to one month in jail and a CFA 40,000 (US$90) fine by a Niamey court on February 5 for defamation charges made by the minister of finance and…
New York, February 29, 2008—CPJ condemns the arbitrary arrest of two popular online editors without charge. The two were detained and interrogated for 24 hours in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on February 18, in what observers of the case say was a politically motivated attempt to shutter the site. The two young editors, Maxence Mello…
New York, February 28, 2008—Police in the capital, Yaoundé, today forced a popular radio station off the air and confiscated its equipment over commentary critical of the government during a call-in program, according to local journalists. Magic FM is the third broadcaster summarily closed by authorities within a week in response to critical coverage of…
Newspaper director imprisoned over critical editorials FEBRUARY 26, 2008 Posted March 14, 2008 Aboubacar Gourouza, L’Eveil Plus IMPRISONED, LEGAL Police in the capital, Niamey, arrested Aboubacar Gourouza, director of the bimonthly L’Eveil Plus, and took him into custody over two separate complaints triggered by critical editorials published on January 29, according to news reports…