Newspaper suspended, journalists barred from working
New York, February 27, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by the National Communications Council’s decision last Wednesday to suspend the private bimonthly Les Echos for two months and ban two of the newspaper’s journalists from working during that time. The decision by the government-controlled council cited “the publication of false news and an…
Newspaper director detained for three days over article criticizing a university
APRIL 18, 2006 Posted: April 25, 2006 Arthur Tshimanga Kaputu, Lubilanji Expansion IMPRISONED Kaputu, director of the small private newspaper Lubilanji Expansion was detained for three days without charge by the public prosecutor in the capital, Kinshasa. According to the Kinshasa-based press freedom organization, Journaliste en Danger (JED), which sent a representative to meet with…
Newspaper’s Web site and radio blocked during election vote count
New York, February 24, 2006—The Monitor Group said today its news Web site and radio station were being blocked within Uganda to prevent them from publishing early results from polling stations in Thursday’s crucial presidential election. Readers were unable to access the Web site of Uganda’s leading independent daily, The Monitor, and broadcasts of station…
British reporter unwelcome in Addis Ababa
New York, February 23, 2006—A British reporter who recently recounted alleged human rights abuses in Ethiopia was denied press accreditation on Tuesday to work in the African country. Inigo Gilmore, whose report appeared in the London weekly TheObserver, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he left the country the same day after Ethiopian authorities…
Critical Web site still blocked on eve of presidential election
New York, February 22, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that the Ugandan government has blocked internal access to a critical Web site, Radio Katwe, in the run-up to Thursday’s hotly contested presidential election. The site has been blocked in Uganda for more than a week, according to news reports and local journalists. The…
Raids, arrests mark crackdown on Kenya’s ‘alternative press’
New York, February 21, 2006—Police in Kenya raided two tabloid newspapers on Monday, confiscating equipment and documents and arresting several journalists in the capital, Nairobi. Police also detained news vendors selling the so-called “alternative press” publications, which are known for provocative reporting on sex and political scandals. Local journalists told the Committee to Protect Journalists…
Journalist freed after 18 days detention in libel case
New York, February 21, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of newspaper director Ibrahim Manzo, who spent 18 days in preventive detention awaiting the outcome of a defamation case. A court in Niamey, capital of Niger, handed Manzo a suspended one-month prison sentence on Monday and ordered his release, local journalists told CPJ.…
Two journalists jailed after press law convictions
New York, February 17, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the imprisonment of two Ethiopian journalists for failing to pay hefty fines imposed in court cases stemming from their work. Both journalists were released after the Ethiopian Free Press Journalists’ Association (EFJA) raised the money to pay the fines, EFJA president Kifle Mulat told…
2005 prison census: 125 journalists jailed
AFGHANISTAN: 1 Ali Mohaqqiq Nasab, Haqooq-i-Zan (Women’s Rights) Imprisoned: October 1, 2005 The attorney general ordered editor Nasab’s arrest on blasphemy charges after the religious adviser to President Hamid Karzai, Mohaiuddin Baluch, filed a complaint about his magazine. “I took the two magazines and spoke to the Supreme Court chief, who wrote to the attorney…
Attacks on the Press 2005: CPJ Releases Attacks on the Press in Four Cities
New York, February 14, 2006–Highlighting the global nature of its press freedom advocacy work, the Committee to Protect Journalists today released its annual press freedom survey Attacks on the Press in four cities: Bangkok, Cairo, London and Washington, D.C.