IVORY COAST
JULY 27, 2005 Posted: August 17, 2005 Radiodiffusion Télévision Ivoirienne (RTI) HARASSED, CENSORED A group of armed, uniformed soldiers stormed the Abidjan offices of state broadcaster Radiodiffusion Télévision Ivoirienne (RTI) and instructed directors not to broadcast footage of opposition members, according to CPJ sources and local news reports. The soldiers identified themselves as members of…
CHAD
AUGUST 15, 2005 Updated: October17, 2005 Sy Koumbo Singa Gali, L’ObservateurGarondé Djarma, freelance IMPRISONED, LEGAL ACTION Chadian journalist Sy Koumbo Singa Gali was sentenced to one year in prison for “inciting hatred,” the fourth reporter jailed in a month in what local journalists called a growing crackdown on the independent press.
IVORY COAST
AUGUST 2005 Posted September 8, 2005 Eddy Péhé, Le Nouveau RéveilTHREATENED Péhé, editor of pro-opposition daily Le Nouveau Réveil, told CPJ that he had received death threats over the phone from anonymous callers who accused him of supporting the rebels that have controled the northern half of Ivory Coast since 2002. Péhé said he believed…
UGANDA
AUGUST 12-15, 2005 Updated: December 1, 2005 Andrew Mwenda, Monitor Publications IMPRISONED, LEGAL ACTION An independent radio and print journalist was arrested on August 12 in connection with a talk show on KFM radio focusing on the July helicopter crash that killed southern Sudanese leader John Garang. Andrew Mwenda, a journalist with Monitor Publications, was…
A fourth journalist is jailed for “inciting hatred”
New York, August 15, 2005—A Chadian journalist was sentenced to one year in prison today for “inciting hatred”, the fourth reporter jailed in a month in what local journalists called a growing crackdown on the independent press. A court in the capital N’Djamena convicted Sy Koumbo Singa Gali, publication director of the privately-owned weekly L’Observateur,…
CPJ condemns sedition charge against radio talk show host
New York, August 15, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists denounces the sedition charge brought today against radio talk show host Andrew Mwenda for remarks last week on the independent KFM radio station. The station also remained off the air today, four days after the government forced its closing in retaliation for the show, which focused…
ZIMBABWE
AUGUST 12, 2005 Updated: December 1, 2005 Kelvin Jakachira, Daily News LEGAL ACTION Jakachira, accused of working without accreditation for the banned Daily News, went on trial in a Harare court, according to his lawyer and the Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA). Jakachira faced up to two years in prison in what was seen…
ZIMBABWE
AUGUST 12, 2005 Posted September 12, 2005 Willie Mponda, The Sun LEGAL ACTION Mponda, editor of community newspaper The Sun in the central town of Gweru, was convicted of publishing false information “prejudicial to the state” under the repressive Public Order and Security Act (POSA), according to local sources. He was fined Zimbabwean $100,000 (U.S.…
A day after station is shut, Ugandan talk show host is arrested
New York, August 12, 2005—An independent radio and print journalist was arrested today in connection with a talk show focusing on the July helicopter crash that killed southern Sudanese leader John Garang. Andrew Mwenda, a journalist with Monitor Publications, was still in custody late this evening, according to sources at the news organization.