New York, July 17, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists has confirmed that Solomon Aregawi, owner of the defunct Amharic-language newspaper Hadar, has been charged with antistate crimes in connection with his journalistic work. This raises the number of journalists jailed for their work in Ethiopia to 18 from 17, according to CPJ research. Three are…
New York, July 17, 2006—Two more journalists were arrested on Friday in a government crackdown on critical voices in the run-up to September presidential elections, according to a CPJ source. Sam Obi, a Banjul-based Nigerian who recently founded an independent newspaper called the Daily Express, is being held by the National Intelligence Agency, two local…
New York, July 14, 2006—After a brief respite while hosting the African Union summit, Gambian authorities have resumed a crackdown on the media. One journalist has not been seen since July 7, five days after the summit ended. He is believed to have been arrested, while another has gone into hiding fearing arrest, sources told…
July 13, 2006 Abdikarim Omar Moallim, Radio Banadir HARASSED, CENSORED Moallim, a correspondent in Jowhar for private station Radio Banadir, was briefly detained by the Islamist-controlled administration of the region and banned from continuing to work for the station, according to the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ). Moallim told NUSOJ that the ban stemmed…
July 12, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 Olivier Komfie Mabwava, Digital Congo FM IMPRISONED Mabwava, a correspondent for the Kinshasa-based radio station Digital Congo FM in the western province of Bandundu, was arrested and held for two days by the provincial public prosecutor. According to the Kinshasa-based press freedom organization Journaliste en Danger (JED), Mabwava…
May 2006 Posted: July 10, 2006 Peter William Mandio, Le Front Michel Michaut Moussala, Aurore Plus Socrate Dipanda, Le Constat LEGAL ACTION The directors of three private newspapers were convicted of defaming Finance Minister Polycarpe Abah Abah in a series of critical articles and sentenced to prison in May 2006, according to the state-owned daily…
JULY 10, 2006 Last Alert: June 23, 2006 Kazadi Kwambi Kasumpata, Lubilanji Expansion IMPRISONED, LEGAL ACTION Kasumpata, a journalist working for the small private weekly Lubilanji Expansion in the capital, Kinshasa, was provisionally released on July 5 after spending more than two months in prison on defamation charges. He was freed on orders from the…
UPDATE July 10, 2006 Original Protest Letter: December 23, 2003 L’Autre Journal CENSORED Gabon’s government-controlled media regulatory body, the National Council on Communications (CNC), ruled on June 22 to re-authorize the private bimonthly L’Autre Journal to publish, according to the state-owned daily L’Union. The decision came two and a half years after the paper was…
UPDATE July 10, 2006 Original Case: March 7, 2005 SW Radio Africa CENSORED SW Radio Africa, a private broadcaster based in the United Kingdom and founded by exiled Zimbabwean journalists, reported June 26, 2006 that its medium-wave broadcasts into Zimbabwe were jammed in the capital, Harare.