Puntland newspaper damaged in arson attack
New York, June 29, 2007—Three rooms in the headquartersof Shacab, an independent newspaper in northeast Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland, were damaged Wednesday night after assailants threw gasoline-fueled bombs, according to local news reports and the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSJ). One man was arrested after being identified by a security guard and other…
LESOTHO: Journalist released on bail; treason charge lifted
UPDATE JUNE 28, 2007 Thabo Thakalenkoala, Harvest FM IMPRISONED Chief Magistrate Molefi Makara reduced an initial charge of high treason against Thabo Thakalenkoala and allowed the radio journalist to be released on US$140 bail. The treason charge carried a possible death penalty. The new charge is subject to a prison sentence of up to 20…
RWANDA: Police interrogate two journalists, press them to reveal sources
JUNE 28, 2007 Posted July 17, 2007 Charles Kabonero, Umuseso Gasana Didas, Umuseso HARASSED Director Kabonero and editor Didas, of the leading independent newspaper Umuseso, were interrogated for three hours in a police station in the capital, Kigali, local journalists told CPJ. They were pressed to reveal their sources in connection with three articles reporting…
SOMALIA:In Somaliland, TV journalist assaulted by mayor, held three days
JUNE 28, 2006 Posted August 10, 2007 Abdirahman Muse Omar, Somaliland Television IMPRISONED Omar, a news editor for private broadcaster Somaliland Television in the northern breakaway republic of Somaliland, was assaulted on June 28 by Mayor Hussein Muhammud Jiir after seeking official comments about the police’s expulsion of a family and the destruction of their…
NIGERIA: Newspaper copies seized in southern Akwa Ibom State
JUNE 27, 2007 EventsCENSORED Fifteen armed men stormed the printing plant of the private weekly Events in the capital city of Uyo and seized about 5,000 copies of the newspaper, according to local journalists and news reports. The attack occurred in the morning, just before the distribution and sale of the paper, publisher Jerome Imeime…
In DRC, a nationwide pattern of attacks raises alarm
Mr. President, We are writing to express our alarm at a disturbing nationwide pattern of attacks on the news media. Since the arrival of your government on February 24, eight broadcasters were raided by government security forces in connection with their news coverage, and one journalist was killed amid increasingly insecure conditions, according to CPJ research. These events undermine Information Minister Toussaint Tshilombo’s statement on World Press Freedom Day that press freedom is respected in the DRC.
CPJ condemns convictions in Malian school essay case
New York, June 26, 2007—Five Malian journalists who covered a high school essay assignment—and the teacher who commissioned the lesson—were convicted today of insulting President Amadou Toumani Toure, according to news reports and local journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the verdicts, which stemmed from a classroom exercise about an imaginary presidential sex scandal,…
Letter critical of prime minister prompts treason charge
New York, June 25, 2007— Thabo Thakalekoala, a prominent reporter and presenter for Lesotho’s private radio station Harvest FM faces a charge of high treason for airing a controversial letter, according to news reports and a local press freedom group. Thakalekoala read on the air on Friday a letter allegedly written by members of the…
In Nigerian capital, government demolishes broadcaster’s offices
New York, June 22, 2007—Nigeria’s leading independent broadcast network says it will take the government to court next week after authorities demolished three new station facilities in the capital, Abuja. African Independent Television (AIT) plans to sue for damages after the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), a local government entity, last week bulldozed without warning three…
More Malian journalists jailed in high school essay crackdown
New York, June 21, 2007—Authorities in the capital Bamako have jailed five journalists in a week—the first arrests in the country since 2003—in the aftermath of an article about a high school essay assignment concerning an imaginary presidential sex scandal. Director Hameye Cissé of the private weekly Le Scorpion, and directors Birama Fall of Le…