New York, May 19, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has confirmed that Abdishakur Yusuf Ali, editor of the independent weekly War-Ogaal, has been in jail without charge for almost one month in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland in Somalia. Abdishakur was arrested on April 21 after War-Ogaal published an article accusing Puntland Finance…
New York, May 17, 2004—Judes Zossé, publication director of the private daily newspaper L’Hirondelle (The Swallow) in the Central African Republic, was released from prison on Friday, May 14, under a presidential pardon. He had served more than two months of a six-month sentence for defaming President François Bozizé. On March 12, Zossé was sentenced…
New York, May 5, 2004—Authorities in Guinea have blocked distribution of this week’s edition of the France-based news weekly Jeune Afrique L’Intelligent, which carries an exclusive interview with François Lonsény Fall, who just resigned as Guinea’s prime minister. The magazine’s May 2-8 edition was expected on the streets of the capital, Conakry, on Monday but…
MAY 3, 2004 Posted: June 10, 2005 Mohamed Halane, HornAfrik ATTACKED Nuradin Mualin Muktar, Baydhabo.com and Midnimo.com ATTACKED Halane, a reporter for private radio HornAfrik and Mualin, an online journalist, were injured in a huge blast at a Mogadishu stadium, where they were covering a rally by Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi. At least 15…
New York, May 3, 2004—Jean-Baptiste Hounkonnou, publication director of the Beninese independent daily Le Nouvel Essor, was granted a provisional release after spending six weeks in jail on criminal defamation charges. On April 27, Benin’s Court of Appeal granted Hounkonnou’s request for provisional release, and he was freed the same day, according to CPJ sources.…
New York, April 26, 2004—CPJ is deeply concerned about reports that two journalists have been detained in separate incidents in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeast Somalia, and the self-declared republic of Somaliland. Abdishakur Yusuf Ali, editor-in-chief of the independent War-Ogaal newspaper in Bossasso, Puntland, was arrested on April 21, because of an article…