Fugitive in Cardoso murder returned to Mozambique
New York, January 24, 2005—A fugitive in the murder of investigative reporter Carlos Cardoso has been returned to Mozambique, where he faces a new trial in the November 2000 slaying. The Committee to Protect Journalists today called for the prompt prosecution and secure detention of Anibal Antonio dos Santos Junior, who has escaped from custody…
CPJ calls for release of jailed publication director
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the recent jailing of Jules Koum Koum, publication director of the private bimonthly Le Jeune Observateur, on criminal defamation charges. Two journalists are now imprisoned in Cameroon for their work.
CPJ protests government restrictions on media content
New York, January 21, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled that the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has imposed restrictions on the content of private broadcasters. A memo issued by DRC Information Minister Henri Mova Sakanyi on January 18 states that “religious and thematic” broadcasters should refrain from airing all news and…
NIGERIA
JANUARY 20, 2005 Posted February 7, 2005 Eastern PilotCENSORED State Security Service (SSS) agents raided newsstands and harassed vendors selling copies of the local tabloid Eastern Pilot in the southeastern city of Enugu. The SSS also detained and questioned Clement Egbuche, the Enugu chairman of the Newspapers Vendors’ Association of Nigeria, and searched his office,…
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
JANUARY 18, 2005 Posted: February 2, 2005 Canal Kin TV Canal Congo TV Radio Liberté Kinshasa CENSORED Officials cut the transmissions of two private television stations and a radio station owned by Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba—Canal Kin TV (CKTV), Canal Congo TV (CCTV), and Radio Liberté Kinshasa (RALIK).
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
JANUARY 18, 2005 Posted: February 2, 2005 All Media CENSORED A memo issued by DRC Information Minister Henri Mova Sakanyi states that “religious and thematic” broadcasters should refrain from airing all news and political programs and orders the suspension of all live phone-in programs.
CPJ condemns prison sentence for journalist in hiding
New York, January 18, 2005—A reporter with the independent Congolese daily La Référence Plus was sentenced in absentia to four months in jail for criminal defamation on January 5, according to local press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED) and sources at the newspaper. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the ruling and called on…
DJIBOUTI
JANUARY 14, 2005 Posted: February 16, 2005 Radio France Internationale CENSORED Officials cut radio France Internationale’s (RFI) FM broadcasts in the country. According to RFI and French media reports, Djiboutian authorities silenced the broadcaster because of its report on an ongoing French legal inquiry into the 1995 death in Djibouti of Bernard Borrel, a French…
SIERRA LEONE
JANUARY 14, 2005 Posted: January 27, 2005 Philip Neville, The Standard Times Unissa Bangura, The Standard Times The Standard TimesHARASSED Detectives from the government’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) raided the offices of the privately owned Standard Times in the capital, Freetown, and closed the paper for a day, according to the newspaper’s staff. The detectives searched…