Journalist beaten at opposition rally
New York, May 1, 2006—The publisher of Cameroon’s English-language tabloid The Chronicle was beaten unconscious by the bodyguard and the driver of an opposition leader, local journalists told the Committee to Protect Journalists today. Eric Motomu, who also edits the paper, told CPJ he was attacked on Friday at a rally in the opposition stronghold…
Radio director held incommunicado on eve of elections
New York, May 1, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed at the arrest on Friday of Tchanguis Vatankah, founder of an independent radio station and president of the Chadian Union of Private Radios. Police took Vatankah from his home in the capital, N’Djamena, but did not show any arrest warrant, according to Evariste Toldé,…
Radio stations political programs and call-in shows suspended
March 27, 2006 Posted: April 25, 2006 Freedom Radio CENSORED Nigeria’s National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) suspended five political programs and all live phone-in shows on Freedom Radio, an independent station based in the northern city of Kano. In addition, the Commission ordered the station to stop all broadcasts between 5 and 10 pm for two…
Journalist jailed on defamation charges
New York, April 25, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the arrest on criminal defamation charges of a journalist in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kazadi Kwambi Kasumpata, of the small private weekly Lubilanji Expansion, was arrested after the Protestant University of Congo lodged a complaint with police over an article he wrote…
Two more journalists sentenced to jail on old charges
New York, April 25, 2006—Two more journalists have been sentenced to jail on revived charges under Ethiopia’s 1992 press law, according to CPJ sources. Wosonseged Gebrekidan, who is already jailed on antistate charges, was sentenced to 16 months for defamation on April 18. Freelance writer Abraham Reta was sentenced yesterday to one year and jailed…
Police prevent Independent staff from reopening the paper
New York, April 25, 2006— Two vanloads of police officers prevented The Independent from reopening today and briefly detained an employee who came to unlock the offices of the Gambian private newspaper. The police action came despite statements from National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and other government officials that the paper would be allowed to publish…
Journalist released after more than two months in jail
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…
The Independent allowed to reopen; reporter still held
New York, April 24, 2006—Officials at the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) today told staff of the private newspaper The Independent that authorities were lifting a month-long occupation of the newspaper’s offices in the capital, Banjul. General Manager Madi Ceesay, who is also secretary-general of the Gambia Press Union, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that…