SOMALIA: Radio correspondent detained over shooting report
MAY 7, 2007 Posted June 7, 2007 Hassan Mayow, Radio Shabelle HARASSED Mayow, a correspondent for the leading independent station Radio Shabelle, was detained overnight by government troops in Afgoye, 18 miles west of the capital, Mogadishu. The detention came in connection with a story on the killing of three food aid recipients allegedly shot…
NIGERIA: Cameraman beaten unconscious by police
MAY 1, 2007 Posted May 7, 2007 Dare Folorunso, Ondo State Radiovision Corporation ATTACKED Folorunso, a camera operator for the Ondo State Radiovision Corporation (OSRC), was assaulted by a dozen police officers after a police inspector accused him of filming an offensive shot of her during a May Day celebration in a sports stadium in…
Backsliders: The 10 countries where press freedom has most deteriorated
New York, May 2, 2007–Three nations in sub-Saharan Africa are among the places worldwide where press freedom has deteriorated the most over the last five years, a new analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists has found. Ethiopia, where the government launched a massive crackdown on the private press by shutting newspapers and jailing editors,…
The Threatening E-Mail as Published in L’observateur Paalga In Burkina Faso, an e-mail warns, ’You will be gunned down’
New York, April 26, 2007—Authorities in Burkina Faso must fully investigate a death threat against outspoken journalist and free speech activist Karim Sama, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Sama received an anonymous e-mail last week warning that he “will be gunned down” over commentary that is critical of the government. Sama, host of…
In Somalia, shelling destroys broadcast stations, injures journalists
New York, April 23, 2007—Two private broadcast stations were destroyed and several journalists were injured last week as Ethiopian troops backing Somalia’s transitional government attacked suspected strongholds of Islamist fighters and militiamen from the Hawiye clan, according to news reports and local journalists. HornAfrik television and radio—the first independent broadcaster in Somalia’s history— has been…
In Senegal, ruling party official said to threaten radio staff
New York, April 20, 2007—Critical comments made during a radio call-in program Wednesday led a ruling party politician and his supporters to threaten staffers at a private radio station in the town of Mbacké, 105 miles (168 kilometers) east of the capital Dakar, according to local journalists and media reports. The politician denied making any…
In Rwanda, publication of a letter draws a prison term
New York, April 20, 2007–A court in the capital, Kigali, today sentenced Agnès Nkusi-Uwimana, director of the bi-monthly journal Umurabyo, to a year in prison on charges linked to the publication of a reader’s letter critical of the government, according to local journalists and press freedom group Journaliste en Danger. Nkusi-Uwimana has been jailed since…
Despite order, DRC radio station still closed
New York, April 19, 2007—Local authorities have yet to allow a community radio station in central DRC to return to the air despite an order by state regulators that it be allowed to resume broadcasting, according to the press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED) and local journalists. Radio ODL was shuttered by police on…