Authorities intensify newspaper censorship and seizures
New York, September 14, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by increasing censorship of opposition and independent newspapers in Sudan. The press climate in the country has deteriorated in recent months against a backdrop of continuing ethnic killings in the western region of Darfur, and growing political unrest and protests over price rises.
Cameraman assaulted filming march
September 13, 2006 Posted: September 22, 2006 Michael Saburi, Reuters Television ASSAULTED, IMPRISONED Saburi, a freelance cameraman for Reuters TV, was assaulted by police officers and jailed for filming a banned trade union march in the capital Harare, according to the Media Institute of Southern Africa, and his lawyer.
Journalists held over toxic waste report
September 12, 2006 Posted: September 22, 2006 Seydou Coulibaly, Le Jour Plus Edouard Gonto, Le Jour Plus Frédéric Koffi, Le Jour Plus HARASSED, LEGAL ACTION Coulibaly and Gonto were summoned on September 12 and detained overnight over a September 11 article titled “Toxic waste: Mrs. Gbagbo at the heart of the scandal,” according to Patrice…
State TV reporter jailed after covering opposition campaign
New York, September 12, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the secret detention of a television reporter in the Gambia who was covering an opposition candidate running in the September 22 presidential election. Dodou Sanneh of state-owned Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) was detained September 8, according to sources who did not wish…
ICU authorities censor radio station, detain journalist
New York, September 11, 2006—Islamist authorities detained a journalist for two days and shut an independent radio station for a similar period in separate incidents this weekend, according to news reports and the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ). In Beledweyne, a western town controlled by the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), authorities jailed journalist Osman…
In Sudan, jailed U.S. reporter to be freed
New York, September 8, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the promised release of a U.S. reporter imprisoned in Sudan since August 6 on espionage charges. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir agreed today to release Paul Salopek, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Chicago Tribune, Chadian interpreter Suleiman Abakar Moussa, driver Idriss Abdelrahman Anu on…
Editor kidnapped and beheaded
New York, September 6, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores the kidnapping and beheading in Sudan of a newspaper editor. Masked gunmen bundled Mohammed Taha Mohammed Ahmed, editor-in-chief of the private daily Al-Wifaq, into a car outside his home in east Khartoum late Tuesday. Police found his severed head next to his body today in…
Journalists given suspended jail sentence for defamation
New York, September 6, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the jail sentences given to two journalists in Senegal for defamation. A court in the capital Dakar on Tuesday handed down six-month suspended prison sentences to Alioune Ndiaye and Saliou Sambe, respectively director and reporter with the private daily L’Observateur, according to local news reports…
In Niger, two journalists sentenced to 18 months in jail
New York, September 5, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by 18-month prison sentences and heavy fines handed down against the director and editor of the Niger private weekly Le Républicain on charges of defaming the government and publishing false news. A court in the capital, Niamey, found Director Maman Abou and Editor Oumarou…
Journalist held over article criticizing the army
September 3, 2006 Posted: September 13, 2006 Duke Atangana Etotogo, Afrique Centrale IMPRISONED Etotogo, director of the new private monthly magazine Afrique Centrale, was arrested by the Division of Military Security (SEMIL) of the defense ministry in the capital Yaoundé after publishing an article criticizing the army.