CHAD
JULY 18, 2005 Updated: October 17, 2005 Ngaradoumbé Samory, L’Observateur IMPRISONED, LEGAL ACTION Samory, editor of the private weekly L’Observateur, was sentenced to three months in prison and a fine of 100,000 CFA francs (about U.S.$176) on charges of defaming the president and “inciting hatred.”
IVORY COAST
JULY 15, 2005 Posted: July 18, 2005 Radio France Internationale CENSORED A media regulatory agency ordered Radio France Internationale (RFI) to halt its FM broadcasts in Ivory Coast until it retracted two disputed reports and paid a fine. The order was the latest incident pitting Ivoirian authorities against the France-based public broadcaster, whom President Laurent…
Independent radio station faces government ban
New York, July 15, 2005—Burundi’s National Communications Council has 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 to stay on the air despite…
Publisher enters 5th day of detention
New York, July 15, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by the continued detention of Jean Marie Kanku, publisher of the private newspaper L’Alerte in the capital, Kinshasa. Kanku has been charged with criminal defamation stemming from a July 8 article alleging that a DRC official had misused humanitarian reconstruction funds, according to the…
Radio France Internationale suspended
New York, July 15, 2005—A media regulatory agency has ordered Radio France Internationale (RFI) to halt its broadcasts in Ivory Coast until it retracts two disputed reports and pays a fine. The order is the latest incident pitting Ivoirian authorities against the France-based public broadcaster, whom President Laurent Gbagbo’s supporters accuse of being biased against…
Government lifts ban on private radio station
New York, July 14, 2005—Government officials unsealed the studios of Freedom FM on Tuesday, more than two years after the Communications Ministry shuttered the private radio station just as it was about to broadcast for the first time. Based in the southwestern port city of Douala, the station was founded by Pius Njawé, a veteran…
Puntland editor freed, newspaper remains suspended
New York, July 14, 2005—Editor Abdi Farah Nur has been released after more than two weeks of imprisonment in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, but his newspaper remains under government suspension and Farah fears for his safety, sources told the Committee to Protect Journalists today. Farah was freed on July 5, but word of…
Two Puntland journalists freed but harassment continues
New York, July 13, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of two radio journalists who were jailed for nearly two weeks in Bossasso, a city in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland. But CPJ remains deeply concerned by the continued imprisonment of Abdi Farah Nur, editor of the weekly Shacab, and by reported…
Journalist imprisoned for reporting on corruption
New York, July 11, 2005—The editor-in-chief of the private weekly Le Front has been imprisoned since July 6. CPJ sources said a prosecutor ordered Joseph Bessala Ahanda jailed indefinitely, pending the results of a judicial investigation into defamation allegations against him. The case stems from a series of reports in Le Front alleging that the…