New York, July 26, 2005—Pro-government militia forcibly disrupted the distribution of private newspapers around the administrative capital Abidjan yesterday, threatening the papers and forcing some to evacuate their premises, according to local sources. Two dailies, Le Nouveau Réveil and Dernière Heure, failed to publish today. Monday morning, militia known as Young Patriots entered Edipresse, the…
New York, July 25, 2005—Radio Publique Africaine remained off the air today after police in Burundi closed the independent broadcaster’s offices on Friday night, briefly detaining eight journalists and continuing a standoff over the station’s news coverage. RPA Deputy Director Jean-Marie Hicuburundi told CPJ that he and seven colleagues were taken to a police station…
New York, July 22, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply shocked about today’s closure of independent radio station Radio Publique Africaine. The closure took place despite an earlier compromise deal between the authorities and RPA, local sources said. RPA fell silent around 5 p.m. local time as a large group of police broke into…
JULY 13, 2005 Posted: July 21, 2005 The Tribune CENSORED The government-controlled Media and Information Commission (MIC) refused to allow the independent weekly The Tribune to reopen, after suspending it for one year in June 2004 for allegedly violating Zimbabwe’s repressive Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (known as AIPPA).
JULY 18, 2005 Posted: July 21, 2005 Daily News and Daily News on Sunday CENSORED The government-controlled Media and Information Commission (MIC) refused, once again, to license the banned independent Daily News and its sister paper, the Daily News on Sunday, both of which were shut down in September 2003 for violating the country’s draconian…
New York, July 19, 2005—Independent station Radio Publique Africaine (RPA) went off air yesterday, after a compromise was reached with the National Communications Council, according to local sources. RPA agreed to a 2-day suspension, on the understanding that Thursday, the council—known by its French acronym CNC—will lift its original ban, which would have required the…
New York, July 19, 2005—The government-controlled Media and Information Commission (MIC) yesterday refused, once again, to license the banned independent Daily News and its sister paper, the Daily News on Sunday, both of which were shut down in September 2003 for violating the country’s draconian press laws. According to the state-owned Herald newspaper, the MIC…
New York, July 18, 2005—One journalist was sentenced to three years in prison and another to three months today for commentaries in the private weekly L’Observateur that criticized President Idriss Déby, according to local sources. The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores the court’s decision and calls on authorities to release the two immediately. The paper’s…
JULY 15, 2005 Posted: July 18, 2005 Radio Publique Africaine HARASSED Burundi’s National Communications Council ordered the popular independent station Radio Publique Africaine off the air indefinitely, alleging that RPA’s recent election coverage was biased and that it had insulted the council. Alexis Sinduhije, RPA’s director, called the suspension unjust and said the station intended…