New York, December 4, 2007—A Senegalese government official threatened a reporter with unspecified harm on Monday in response to a story implicating him in an alleged corruption scandal, according to news reports and local journalists. He was the third top official this year to threaten physical harm against journalists in response to critical coverage of…
NOVEMBER 29, 2007 Posted January 14, 2007 Alexandre Neto, Radio Despertar Antonio Cascais, Deutche Welle Radio HARASSED Two journalists were detained and beaten by police in Angola’s capital city, Luanda, while reporting on forced evictions of residents from the Kilamba Kiaxi area of Luanda. Neto, the director of Radio Despertar, and Deutche Welle reporter Antonio…
Editor and owner imprisoned for defamation NOVEMBER 29, 2007 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…
November 29, 2007 POSTED December 28, 2007 Alexandre Neto, Radio Despertar Antonio Cascais, Deutche Welle Radio HARASSED Two journalists were detained and beaten by police in Angola’s capital city, Luanda, while reporting on forced evictions of residents from the Kilamba Kiaxi area of Luanda. Neto, the director of Radio Despertar, and Deutche Welle reporter Antonio…
Dear Mr. President, As an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide, we welcome the provisional release from prison of four Senegalese journalists arrested in recent weeks because of their critical stories. We believe that the government’s continued use of criminal defamation and insult laws to jail and prosecute journalists undermines Senegal’s democratic credentials. We are calling on you to use your influence to finally implement your 2004 pledge to repeal criminal penalties for press offenses, including defamation.
New York, November 13, 2007—Somalia’s U.S. and Ethiopian-backed government has forced three prominent private radio stations off the air since Monday over their coverage of the bloody conflict centered in Mogadishu, according to news reports and local journalists. In a press conference today, Mogadishu Mayor Mohamed “Dheere” Omar Habeeb accused the private stations Radio Banadir…
New York, November 2, 2007–State regulators in the commercial city of Blantyre summarily pulled off the air on Tuesday Malawi’s first private television station, citing an alleged regulatory violation, according to news reports and local journalists. The ruling, targeting a fledgling station close to opposition leader Bakili Muluzi in the lead-up to presidential polls in…