CPJ calls on SADC heads of state to prioritize press freedom and the safety of journalists
August 16, 2019 12:32 PM ET
CPJ writes to the executive secretary and heads of state of the Southern African Development Community ahead of the 39th Ordinary Summit, urging them to prioritize press freedom and the safety of journalists in SADC.
Qatar embassy in Swaziland briefly detains two journalists
October 25, 2018 1:23 PM ET
Security staff detained two Times of Swaziland journalists for more than an hour at the Qatar Embassy in Swaziland's capital, Mbabane, on October 5, 2018, according to a statement by the local chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). The journalists were detained after a senior diplomat...
Swaziland releases Bheki Makhubu after 15 months in jail
June 30, 2015 11:38 AM ET
New York, June 30, 2015--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today's decision by the Swaziland Supreme Court to release from prison Bheki Makhubu, the editor of The Nation, who has been in jail since March 2014 along with human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko, after the crown prosecution said it would...
Outdated secrecy laws stifle the press in South Africa
April 27, 2015 11:01 AM ET
Nelson Mandela regularly harangued the media once he'd been freed after 27 years of imprisonment by South Africa's apartheid government. He would call individual journalists when he liked or disliked something they had written or when he wanted to advance a political lobby....
China is world's worst jailer of the press; global tally second worst on record
December 17, 2014 12:01 AM ET
More than 200 journalists are imprisoned for their work for the third consecutive year, reflecting a global surge in authoritarianism. China is the world’s worst jailer of journalists in 2014. A CPJ special report by Shazdeh Omari...
First US-Africa summit short on press freedom, other human rights
July 31, 2014 5:30 PM ET
Top African and U.S. leaders are meeting next week in Washington in a first-of-its-kind summit focused on African development. But critics argue the summit is flawed in design, overlooking human rights such as freedom of expression and barring civil society actors from bilateral discussions....
Cape Town, July 25, 2014--CPJ is appalled by the two-year prison sentence, without the option of a fine, imposed today on editor of The Nation Bheki Makhubu and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko by the Swaziland High Court in Mbabane. The pair was convicted on contempt of court charges on...
Editor and lawyer convicted of contempt of court in Swaziland
July 17, 2014 12:52 PM ET
Cape Town, South Africa, July 17, 2014--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today's convictions for contempt of court of an editor and lawyer in Swaziland....
Swaziland editor, lawyer re-arrested after release from jail
April 10, 2014 5:45 PM ET
New York, April 10, 2014--Swaziland police on Wednesday re-arrested veteran editor Bheki Makhubu and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko three days after they had been released from prison, according to news reports. The two, who were first jailed on March 18 and held until Sunday, had written articles that criticized...
In Swaziland, two held on contempt of court charges
March 19, 2014 6:22 PM ET
Cape Town, March 19, 2014--Authorities in Swaziland should immediately release Bheki Makhubu, editor of the independent newsmagazine The Nation, and Thulani Maseko, a human rights lawyer, who were imprisoned earlier this week in connection with articles published in The Nation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today....