New York, September 15, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the continued detention of Isaac Umunna, an editorial consultant to the private, Lagos-based weekly Global Star as well as the general editor of Africa Today, a monthly news magazine based in London. On September 8, members of Nigeria’s State Security Service (SSS)…
Unrest shatters press freedom gains in the Democratic Republic of Congo with attacks and imprisonments surging yet again.A Special report by Julia Crawford The fragile state of press freedom in the Democratic Republic of Congo was shattered when the eastern city of Bukavu fell briefly to Rwandan-backed rebels in early June. State-imposed restrictions and imprisonment,…
New York, September 10, 2004—The last remaining foreign correspondent in Eritrea left the country yesterday after the government ordered his expulsion, he told the Committee to Protect Journalists in an interview today. Jonah Fisher, who worked in Eritrea for 18 months as correspondent for the BBC and Reuters, said authorities gave no reason for his…
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply disturbed by an alarming government attack against the Lagos-based news magazine Insider Weekly, one that is fundamentally at odds with the most basic democratic principles. Members of the State Security Service (SSS) recently raided the newspaper, arrested employees, seized equipment, censored the news, and shut its…
New York, September 7, 2004—Jailed Ethiopian journalist Tewodros Kassa was freed yesterday after serving out a sentence of more than two years in prison for “press offenses,” according to CPJ sources. With Kassa’s release, no journalists are jailed in Ethiopia, but many have criminal charges pending against them, the sources said. Kassa, the former editor…
New York, September 2, 2004–Police arrested the editor-in-chief of the independent Somali-language daily Jamhuuriya and its weekly English-language edition, The Republican, in the self-declared republic of Somaliland this week. Hassan Said Yusuf was still in police custody today, and local journalists have not been allowed to visit him, according to local sources. Yusuf was arrested…
New York, August 19, 2004—At least four Beninese reporters face criminal defamation charges and two of them have already spent time in prison this year—the first journalists to be imprisoned for their work since 1996 in the West African nation. The defendants include Patrick Adjamonsi, publication director of the private daily L’Aurore, who was released…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about an August 15 arson attack on the home of Gambian journalist and BBC correspondent Ebrima Sillah, and recent threats against local independent journalists. About 3 a.m., attackers broke through the windows of Sillah’s house, poured gasoline, and set fire to the building, causing extensive damage. The house is located outside the capital, Banjul.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned that Tewodros Kassa, the imprisoned former editor-in-chief of the Amharic language weekly Ethiop, has been newly convicted on a four-year-old defamation charge, delaying his scheduled release from prison.
New York, August 9, 2004—A court in the Central African Republic’s capital, Bangui, today sentenced Maka Gbossokotto, publication director of the private French language daily Le Citoyen, to a 12-month suspended jail term and a 500,000 CFA franc (US$960) fine for printing “public insults” against businessman Jean-Serge Wafio. Gbossokotto was also charged with defamation, but…