Africa

  
On April 11, the country’s High Authority for Communication issued a directive banning coverage on political parties and activities of a political nature of associations. (Screenshot: Le360/YouTube)

Malian media regulator suspends TV5Monde and LCI over security reporting

New York, September 12, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists urged Mali’s media regulator to reverse its suspensions of French public broadcaster TV5Monde and private television news channel La Chaîne Info (LCI), which are the most recent outlets censored in response to coverage of security issues in the country. “Reporting critically on the activities of Mali’s…

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CPJ, partners call for release of slain Nigerian journalist’s body

The Committee to Protect Journalists, the International Press Institute, and the Media Foundation for West Africa released a joint statement on Tuesday, September 3, calling on Nigerian authorities to ensure the body of slain journalist Onifade Emmanuel Pelumi is released to his family and that those responsible for his death are identified and held to account. …

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Guinea Bissau president swears at journalist as media freedom declines

New York, August 29, 2024—Amid political tension in Guinea-Bissau following President Umaro Sissoco Embaló’s dissolution of parliament in December, it was only natural for radio journalist Ussumane Mané to ask the West African leader a question that was on everyone’s lips: will there be a presidential election this year? Embaló, a former army general who…

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Martin Kasongo and Michaël Tenende

2 DRC reporters threatened by province officials after airing critical reports

Kinshasa, August 22, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges the authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to ensure the safety and freedom of two journalists — Radio Tokomi Wapi reporter Martin Kasongo and Top Lomami radio reporter Michaël Tenende — after local officials in the south-central Lomami province threatened them in separate…

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Zambian journalist Thomas Allan Zgambo faces prison over his reporting despite President Hakainde Hichilema, pictured here on August 16, 2021, vowing that 'the media will be freed' when he took office in 2021. (Photo: AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Yet again, Zambian journalist Thomas Allan Zgambo faces prison over reporting

Lusaka, August 21, 2024—Zambian journalist Thomas Allan Zgambo is facing up to seven years in prison for his reporting on corruption and poor governance in the southern African nation. It is at least the third time that Zgambo has risked imprisonment for his online journalism, a growing threat for journalists in many African countries. On August 6, Zgambo…

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Nigerian security forces lob teargas canisters to disperse an anti-government demonstration to protest against bad governance and economic hardship in Abuja, Nigeria, on August 2, 2024.

In Nigeria, at least 56 journalists attacked and harassed as protests roil region

“He hit me with a gun butt,” Premium Times newspaper reporter Yakubu Mohammed told the Committee to Protect Journalists, recalling how he was struck by a police officer while reporting on cost-of-living protests in Nigeria’s capital of Abuja on August 1. Two other officers beat him, seized his phone, and threw him in a police…

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Samuel Bondjock

In Cameroon, long-running defamation case highlights vexatious suits against journalists

Dakar, August 20, 2024—Cameroonian journalist Samuel Bondjock has had to appear in court more than 30 times in almost 30 months to face criminal defamation charges that could put him in jail — even though the country’s media regulator dismissed the complaint against him in 2022. His next appearance in the capital Yaounde is scheduled…

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Journalist Florianne Irangabiye photographed on August 16, 2024, outside Bubanza Prison holding a certificate authorizing her release. (Photo: Credit withheld)

Burundian journalist Floriane Irangabiye released after two years in prison

Kampala, August 16, 2024— The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Burundian online journalist Florianne Irangabiye, who has served two years of a 10-year prison sentence, following a presidential pardon.  “Floriane Irangabiye’s imprisonment was deeply unjust, and it is a great relief that she has finally been freed after two years behind bars,” said CPJ…

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South Sudan journalist Sisto Germano Ohide was arrested and detained without charge in connection with his reporting on a local dispute. (Photo: Courtesy of Singaita Radio)

South Sudan police detain journalist Sisto Germano Ohide without charge

Editor’s note: Ohide told CPJ that he was released on bail on August 9. As of August 12, prosecutors had yet to decide whether to charge him, Ohide said. Kampala, August 8, 2024— South Sudan authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Singaita FM journalist Sisto Germano Ohide, who is ill and undergoing malaria treatment, the Committee…

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Protestors running from clouds of tear gas fired by Nigerian security forces during the End Bad Governance protests in the capital Abuja on August 2.

Nigerian security forces attack, arrest journalists covering protests

Abuja, August 6, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Nigerian authorities to investigate reports that dozens of journalists were assaulted, harassed, and detained while covering cost-of-living protests, which began on August 1. CPJ is investigating multiple incidents including one in the capital Abuja on August 3, where masked security forces fired bullets and teargas…

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