New York, November 8, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the detention of Mathieu N’do, managing editor of the pro-opposition weekly San Finna. Local sources say N’do was arrested November 5 at the airport in the capital, Ouagadougou, as he was returning from Ivory Coast, where he had traveled to report on…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged by Thursday’s violent attacks on four private newspapers in Abidjan, and by a government ban against eight newspapers. These grave attacks on press freedom came as hostilities resumed in the rebel-held north of the country. We are also alarmed at the silencing of three international radio stations in Abidjan, reportedly by an act of sabotage.
New York, October 20, 2004—Yesterday, the Gambia’s Council of Ministers decided to revoke the controversial National Media Commission Act, according to a statement broadcast on state radio. The National Assembly must now approve the measure, though it is unclear when that vote will occur. The legislation, enacted in 2002, created a media regulatory body with…
In Togo, journalists are skeptical but see opportunity in the regime’s bid to shed sanctions. By Adam Posluns with reporting by Alexis Arieff With 37 years in power, Togolese President Gnassingbé Eyadéma is Africa’s longest-serving head of state. Even after the country introduced multiparty elections more than a decade ago, Eyadéma and his ruling party,…
New York, October 15, 2004—Ivory Coast journalist Amadou Dagnogo, who disappeared from the rebel-held town of Bouake nearly two months ago, was flown to the commercial capital, Abidjan, yesterday by French peacekeepers. Dagnogo, the Bouake correspondent for Abidjan-based independent daily L’Inter, said he had been detained by rebels for six days but had escaped. In…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the imprisonment of Paul Kamara, editor and publisher of For Di People newspaper. Kamara was sentenced yesterday to two years in prison stemming from October 2003 articles that criticized Your Excellency.
New York, October 4, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by reports that a correspondent for the private daily L’Inter has gone missing from the rebel-held town of Bouake after receiving threats from rebels. Amadou Dagnogo was last seen on August 28 by a neighbor, according to L’Inter Editor Charles d’Almeida. Before disappearing,…
New York, September 23, 2004—Two journalists and the general manager of the weekly Zimbabwe Independent were detained today for about six hours, charged under Zimbabwe’s repressive media law, and told to report back to police next Tuesday for a court appearance, according to local journalists and a defense lawyer for the three. The charges stem…
New York, September 21, 2004—On Monday, September 20, a magistrate’s court in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, acquitted four directors of the independent, banned newspaper the Daily News, who had been charged with publishing the newspaper illegally. The court ruled that the state had “failed to show a prima facie case against the accused,” according to international…