Africa

“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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

The arrest and detention of Segun Olatunji, the then-editor of the privately owned First News site, by Nigeria’s military in March triggered an outcry from local and international civil society, highlighting an uptick in the unlawful detention of journalists in the West African nation.  Olatunji was taken from his Alagbado home in southwestern Lagos state by more than a dozen armed men who…

When exiled Russian news website Meduza was hit with a flood of internet traffic in mid-April, it set off alarm bells among the staff as the deluge blocked publishing for more than four hours and briefly rendered the site inaccessible for some readers. It was the largest distributed denial of service attack (DDoS) attack in…

Kampala, July 26, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Somali authorities to immediately release journalist AliNur Salaad who was remanded in custody for 45 days on allegations of “immorality, false reporting, and insulting the armed forces.” “Somali authorities must immediately free journalist AliNur Salaad, drop all legal proceedings against him, and allow journalists to…

Kampala, July 16, 2024 —Kenyan authorities must conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the July 16 shooting of journalist Catherine Wanjeri wa Kariuki as she covered ongoing protests in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Kariuki, a reporter for the privately owned Mediamax Network Ltd media group, was shot three times…

Dakar, July 16, 2024— Burkinabe authorities should immediately and comprehensively investigate the disappearance of columnist Alain Traoré after armed men in masks claiming to be agents of the National Intelligence Agency (ANR) took Traoré, a satirical columnist for the private radio station Omega, from his home in the capital of Ouagadougou on July 13. Three other journalists—Serge Atiana Oulon,…