Africa

Dakar, April 16, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Senegalese authorities to stop the legal harassment of journalists and to deliver on President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye’s promise to decriminalize press offenses. A Dakar court judge charged Zik FM’s editor-in-chief Simon Pierre Faye with spreading false news on April 14 and released him under judicial control.  On the…

Dakar, April 15, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Malian authorities to immediately release journalist Alfousseini Togo after he was arrested and detained April 9 on charges of undermining the state. “Alfousseini Togo’s arrest and detention for criticizing the judiciary sends a chilling signal to the entire Malian press, which is already suffering under the threat of government…

Nairobi, April 9, 2025—Ethiopian authorities should drop terrorism investigations into at least seven journalists from the privately owned Ethiopian Broadcasting Service (EBS) who were detained over what authorities said was a fabricated documentary, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Police arrested the journalists over a March 23 episode of “Addis Meiraf,” which has since…

Lusaka, April 8, 2025—Zimbabwean authorities should stop their victimization of broadcast journalist Blessed Mhlanga, who, after 43 days in jail, was denied bail for the third time on Monday, and must ensure that charges against him are dropped immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. Mhlanga, a journalist for privately owned Heart and Soul Television,…

Lusaka, April 8, 2025—Zambian authorities should drop all charges against Wave FM Zambia journalist Hope Chooma and direct resources to holding to account those responsible for assaulting him and threatening Byta FM reporter Robert Haloba, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On March 7, Chooma was attacked by ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) supporters while covering a charity event in the southern town of Mazabuka, with police…

Dakar, April 4, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in Burkina Faso to release recently detained journalists Guézouma Sanogo, Boukari Ouoba, and Luc Pagbelguem after they appeared in military uniform in videos posted on social media. “The video showing detained Burkinabe journalists Guézouma Sanogo, Boukari Ouoba, and Luc Pagbelguem wearing military uniforms reinforces…

Abuja, March 31, 2025–Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio should not sign the country’s counterterrorism bill into law and must ensure any new legislation will not be used to target the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Monday. “President Julius Maada Bio should not assent to Sierra Leone’s terror bill without ensuring that sections hostile…

Dakar, March 26, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in Burkina Faso to urgently disclose the whereabouts of journalists Guézouma Sanogo, Boukari Ouoba, and Luc Pagbelguem, who were arrested on Monday, and release them unconditionally. Intelligence officers took the Association of Burkinabe Journalists (ABJ) president Sanogo and vice-president Ouoba to an unknown location…

In a letter, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Mozambique’s President Daniel Francisco Chapo to take decisive steps to ensure that the media can operate without fear of reprisal. The letter urges Chapo, who was inaugurated January 2025 following a disputed election last year, to act swiftly in providing the whereabouts of  two missing journalists—Ibraimo Mbaruco, who…

Kampala, Uganda, March 27, 2025—After two weeks of attacks by masked anti-terrorism agents, police, and soldiers on Ugandan journalists covering an upcoming by-election, voting day proved even worse — forcing three major media houses to pull their reporters from the day’s top story. “We have taken the difficult decision to temporarily withdraw our @Daily Monitor…