MARCH 30, 2005 Updated: April 15, 2005 Radio Alternative CENSORED Police in the capital, Niamey, shuttered the offices of the privately run Radio Alternative. No reason was given for the closure, according to a source at the station reached by CPJ, but employees believed it was linked to the March 26 arrest of Moussa Tchangari,…
New York, March 30, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns ongoing attempts by Niger authorities to repress independent media coverage of protests against a new tax on basic foodstuffs, including water and flour. Police in the capital, Niamey, shuttered the offices of the privately run Radio Alternative this morning. No reason was given for the…
MARCH 29, 2005 Posted: April 14, 2005 Fofana Mambé, Soir Info ATTACKED Mambé, a reporter for the private daily Soir Info, was viciously attacked while attempting to cover a street demonstration by police officers in the commercial capital, Abidjan. Local sources said police officers protesting non-payment of war-time bonuses in front of the Internal Security…
MARCH 24, 2005 Posted: April 1, 2005 All Journalists CENSORED As part of a wide attempt by authorities in Niger to suppress independent media coverage of protests against a new tax on basic foodstuffs, electricity and water, Interior Minister Mounkaila Modi appeared on state television to warn journalists against covering the activities of a group…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the continued detention of Abdirisak Ahmed Absuge, editor of www.guulane.com, the official Web site of faction leader Mohamed Dhere. According to local sources, Absuge was arrested on March 5 in the district of Jawhar, where Dhere is chairman of the self-appointed administration.
MARCH 22, 2005 Posted: April 1, 2005 Radio Télévision Ténéré (RTT) CENSORED Police in the western city of Zinder searched the offices of the privately owned broadcaster Radio Télévision Ténéré (RTT) and confiscated a videocassette containing footage of street protests against a new tax on basic foodstuffs, water and electricity. According to RTT officials quoted…
MARCH 22, 2005 Posted: March 23, 2005 Ahmed Suleyman Dhuhul, Radio Hargeisa Hoodo Axmed Qarbooshe, Radio Hargeisa HARASSED Dhuhul and Qarbooshe, reporters for government-owned Radio Hargeisa in the self-declared republic of Somaliland, were fired from their jobs after they were accused of working for Horyaal Radio, a pro-opposition station based in the United Kingdom. Horyaal…
New York, March 22, 2005—A Rwandan appeals court today stiffened the sentence against a newspaper editor as it upheld his conviction on charges that he defamed the deputy speaker of parliament in a 2004 article. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the ruling, saying it reflected the ongoing harassment of editors and reporters for Umuseso,…
New York, March 21, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists today wrote to Somalia’s president, Col. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, urging him to investigate the continuing detention of Abdirisak Ahmed Absuge by forces loyal to faction leader Mohamed Dhere. Absuge is editor of www.guulane.com, Dhere’s official website. According to local sources, Absuge was arrested on March 5…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the apparently secret enactment of two new laws that threaten press freedom in the Gambia. Your Excellency signed these laws on December 28, 2004, but their promulgation was not made public until two months later, according to news reports and local sources. CPJ raised its concerns about these laws in a March 14, 2005, meeting with your ambassador to the United States, H.E. Dodou Bammy Jagne in Washington, D.C., attended by CPJ board member Clarence Page and CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Julia Crawford.