Radio station in DRC shut down for broadcasting `bad French’
New York, June 15, 2007— Intelligence agents in the Democratic Republic of Congo shut down a privately owned radio station for “intoxicating the population” and “broadcasting in bad French.” It was the sixth Congolese broadcaster this year to be raided by security forces over its coverage. Radio Canal Satellite remained off the air today after…
In Mali, high school essay assignment lands journalist in prison
New York, June 15, 2007— A state prosecutor in Mali jailed a journalist for an article about a high school essay assignment in which the students were asked to write about a fictional sex scandal involving a president and his mistress. Seydina Oumar Diarra, an editor for the private daily newspaper Info-Matin, was questioned for…
Police in Congo arrest suspects in journalist’s murder
New York, June 14, 2007— Police arrested two suspects today in the killing of a broadcaster for United Nations-sponsored Radio Okapi in the eastern border town of Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the station’s journalists told CPJ. CPJ is investigating to determine whether Serge Maheshe was killed because of his work as a…
In Rwanda, government strips new journal’s license after first edition
New York, June 12, 2007—Rwanda’s Information Minister revoked the publication license of a newspaper without a required court order three days after the paper’s first edition. The Weekly Post, a privately owned, English-language weekly, did not publish this week after Information Minister Laurent Nkusi revoked its authorization, according to a copy of an official letter…
Ethiopia’s High Court convicts four editors, three publishers
New York, June 11, 2007— Ethiopia’s High Court today convicted four editors and three publishers of now-defunct weeklies of anti-state charges linked to their coverage of the government’s handling of disputed parliamentary elections in 2005, according to local journalists. Two of the editors were convicted of charges carrying life imprisonment or death. The journalists were…
ETHIOPIA: Police interrogate business weekly staffers for 11 hours
JUNE 7, 2007 Posted June 26, 2007 African Best Business Index Weekly HARASSED Police in the capital, Addis Ababa, summoned 17 staffers of the private English-Amharic African Best Business Index Weekly (ABBI), including Editor-in-Chief Yohannes Rufahel, for questioning about the paper’s license to publish, according to news reports and local journalists.