Sub-Saharan Africa News items Page

Uganda: Government should desist from infringing on freedom of expression and association
Date: 27 June 2012 "ARTICLE 19 is concerned at the recent moves by the Ugandan government to curtail freedom of expression through intimidation and threats to NGOs...

Ethiopia: Conviction of Government Opponents a 'Dark Day' for Freedom of Expression
Date: 27 June 2012 "More Ethiopian government opponents have been convicted on trumped up terrorism and treason charges in what Amnesty International called...

Ethiopia: IFJ Condemns 'Gross Miscarriage of Justice' After Terror Conviction Against Journalist in Ethiopia
27 June 2012 "The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today described a ruling by the High Court in Addis Ababa which found guilty of terrorism journalist Eskinder ...

Uganda bans 38 organisations accused of 'promoting homosexuality'
Date: 20 June 2012 - "Uganda has announced a ban on 38 non-governmental organisations it accuses of undermining the national culture by promoting homosexuality...

Tanzania: Zanzibar Accused of Human Rights Violation
Date: 15 June 2012 - "Zanzibar — COURT case delays, misuse of government funds, and clampdown on freedom of expression are some of the incidents violating human rights in Zanzibar as recorded last year, a report says...

Togolese police assault photojournalist
New York, March 7, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in Togo to investigate a report that police assaulted a photojournalist on Friday after he took photos of officers seizing a motorcycle during a protest...

Free media a prerequisite to development
Date: 27 February 2012 "The 7th regional African Caribbean and Pacific-European Union (ACP-EU) Joint Parliamentary Assembly has affirmed free media as a prerequisite to development and critical...

MISA-Zimbabwe position on inclusion of media freedom
Date: 11 Ferbruary 2012 "MISA-Zimbabwe welcomes the inclusion of media freedom and the right to access to information as captured in the first constitutional draft published in The Herald on 9 February 2012...

Nigeria's military obstructs journalists covering unrest
"New York, February 8, 2012--Nigeria's military has harassed and obstructed journalists trying to report on unrest in recent days, according to local journalists and news...

Better self-policing, or independent media regulator? (South Africa)
Date: 01 February 2012 "Newspaper and magazine publishing companies on Tuesday proposed measures to improve the effectiveness of the current self-regulatory...

Newspaper editor arrested for publishing "confidential information"
Date: 01 February 2012 "(RSF/IFEX) - 1 February 2012 - Reporters Without Borders calls for the immediate release of Charles Sanga, the managing editor of the daily Le...

Two editors given jail terms in Central African Republic
"New York, January 31, 2012--The convictions of two journalists in the Central African Republic over their critical coverage of a top official constitute political censorship, the...

Rwanda journalists jailed for genocide denial launch supreme court appeal
Date: 29 January 2012 "Two Rwandan journalists imprisoned for insulting President Paul Kagame and denying genocide will appear before the country's supreme court on...

South Africa rules against pornography on TV
Date: 28 Janaury 2012 "Pornography has no place on pay-TV in South Africa, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) has ruled...

Ugandan photojournalist shot at from police van
"New York, January 25, 2012--Ugandan authorities must hold to account members of security forces who fired Tuesday on a photojournalist covering their attack on the motorcade of...

Judge confirms charges against Ethiopian dissident blogger
"New York, January 25, 2012--Jailed Ethiopian dissident blogger Eskinder Nega will stand trial in March for all of the terrorism accusations initially advanced by prosecutors, a federal...

Gambia: Life sentence for distributing anti-government t-shirts violates free speech
Date: 20 January 2012 "ARTICLE 19 is appalled by the conviction and prison sentence handed to Amadou Scattred Janneh, a former Minister of Information and Communication...

Kenya: Comments on the Freedom of Information Bill
Date: 19 January 2012 - The Centre for Law and Democracy has published its analysis of the draft Kenyan Freedom of Information Bill.

Sudan confiscates, shuts down newspapers again
Date: 18 Janaury 2012 "The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Sudan's routine use of newspaper closures as a means to censor critical reporting. Over two ...

GJA condemns police attack on Journalists
Date: 15 January 2012 "The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has strongly condemned the attack on journalists particularly, the Daily Guide photographer, Gifty Lawson...

Journalist harassed for reporting farmers' complaints
Date: 10 January 2012 "Police in Gambia are harassing a journalist for reporting farmers' complaints against a local official accused of mismanaging public resources...

Nigerian Journalist Shot Dead

Swedish journalists accused of terrorism face trial in Ethiopia
Date: 19 October 2011 "Two Swedish journalists charged with terrorism in Ethiopia after being arrested during a battle between government troops and rebels will go on trial...

Burundi: Journalists defy media blackout on Gatumba massacre
Date: 5 October 2011 "Journalists are courageously defying a government order not to report on the Gatumba shooting massacre that left more than 35 people dead in Burundi last month

South Africa: Rulings leave freedom of expression in lurch
Date: 23 September 2011 "Freedom of expression has suffered two body blows in recent weeks...

Zimbabwe Facebook subversion trial collapse
Date: 21 September 2011 "Zimbabwe Facebook subversion trial collapses The case against Zimbabwean Vikas Mavhudzi, accused of subversion because of an alleged post on the social media site Facebook, has collapsed...

Sudan's new press laws will threaten free speech
Date: 22 August 2011 "A flawed media law already hampers the work of journalists in Sudan. But now the government is considering introducing even more restrictions. Abdelgadir Mohamed Abdelgadir reports...

Burundi: Stop Harrassing Lawyers and Journalists
Date: 11 August 2011 "(New York) – The Burundi authorities’ arrests of lawyers and intimidation of journalists are cause for concern, Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Africa: Windhoek +20 Draft Declaration Released
Date: 03 July 2011 "The African Platform on Access to Information Working Group, of which ARTICLE 19 is a member, is proud to announce that the second draft of its declaration is now available...

Burundi: Journalist Acquitted of Treason Charges
Date:19/05/2011 The acquittal of a journalist on treason charges on May 13, 2011, is a positive development for Burundi, where politically motivated harassment of journalists has been on the rise...

Separating Free Speech From Hate in South Africa
Date:30/04/2011 It seemed like a throwback to the days when a white minority ruled South Africa...

Uganda: Arrest of opposition leaders an outrageous affront to freedom of expression
Date:12/04/2011 The opposition politicians, activists and their supporters were arrested during demonstrations calling for people to walk to work in protest at fuel price rises...

Ivory Coast newspapers accuse Gbagbo supporters
Date:02/03/2011 Nine newspapers in Ivory Coast have closed down in protest over what they say is harassment by supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo...

Zimbabwe arrests 46 over Egyptian-style protests
Date:22/02/2011 HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe has arrested dozens of activists on charges of plotting protests against long-serving President Robert Mugabe similar to those that toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia, police said on Monday...

Ugandan gay rights activist David Kato found murdered
Date:27/01/2011 One of Uganda's most prominent gay rights activists has been murdered in his home weeks after winning a court victory over a tabloid that called for homosexuals to be killed...

Kenyan journalist receives threats for investigating murder
Date:23/12/2010 A Kenyan journalist whose reporting has helped expose and publicize the unsolved 2009 murder of reporter Francis Nyaruri received two anonymous threatening phone calls on Friday warning he could share Nyaruri's fate, according to local journalists...

SA's 'flawed' legislation, proposals threaten human rights - MMA
Date:13/12/2010 South Africa's 'fragile' freedom of expression, free flow of information, and media liberties and independence - some of the cornerstones of any society's human rights - were further shaken this year by a series of what critics call 'flawed' and 'authoritarian' legislation and proposals...

President Sirleaf: 'We Will Not Undermine Press Fredom'
Date:07/12/2010 Liberia's President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has assured journalists in the country that her administration will neither take any measure nor will it be associated with any measure that would scale back press freedom...

Woza leaders wrongfully arrested — Supreme Court
Date:05/12/2010 Women of Zimbabwe Arise (Woza) leaders Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu had their rights and fundamental freedoms violated, when they were arrested and detained for three weeks last year, the Supreme Court has ruled...

Zimbabwe detains reporter on criminal defamation charges
Date:19/11/2010 Reporter Nqobani Ndlovu remained in police custody today despite expectations that he would appear in court on criminal defamation charges, local journalists told CPJ...

Zambian Watchdog writers fear for their lives as government hunts them down
Date:13/11/2010 The entire Zambia security system is currently hunting for the editors, publishers and sources of the Zambian Watchdog...

Swaziland prime minister threatens to censor columnists
Date:25/10/2010 The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a recent statement from Swaziland's Prime Minister, Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini, announcing his intention to create a law requiring newspaper columnists to seek permission before they write critically about the government...

Democratic Republic of Congo: Provincial governor orders community radio station's closure
Date:14/10/2010 Journaliste en Danger (JED) condemns the unjustified closure of Radio Bandundu FM, a community station broadcasting in the town of Bandundu, capital of the province of the same name, located in western DR Congo...

HRNJ-Uganda Reports On Shrinking Space for Free Expression And Media Freedom Ahead of 2011 General Elections
Date:08/10/2010 Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda (HRNJ-Uganda) is concerned about the declining safety and security environment for journalists in Uganda, and the growing overall threat to freedom of expression in the country...

Uganda: Joint Mission Calls to Safeguard Free Speech Ahead of 2011 Elections
Date:30/09/2010 Following a joint mission to Uganda, ARTICLE 19 and four other international freedom of expression organisations are calling on the government of Uganda to respect its international and constitutional obligations to safeguard freedom of expression...

South African journalists fear limits to press freedom
Date:03/09/2010 South African journalists are finding themselves increasingly at odds with their own government over two proposals that have the potential to limit press freedom...

Uganda’s commitment to democracy is encouraging
Date:03/09/2010 In any country, the foundations for free and fair elections are laid well before election day by establishing freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, an independent media, and a transparent voter registry...

Gordimer: free expression threatened in S.Africa
Date:25/08/2010 Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer is leading South African writers in speaking out against proposals she fears will muzzle freedom of speech in her homeland...

Cry freedom ... of expression: SA media under attack
Date:18/08/2010 A month after South Africa scored a victory over pessimists by staging a successful World Cup, the ruling African National Congress risks squandering the tournament's legacy by trying to muzzle the media and step up state secrecy...

South Africa journalists fight proposed media laws
Date:08/08/2010 JOHANNESBURG ; South African journalists launched a campaign Sunday to fight what they say is an attempt to curtail media freedoms in a nation known for one of Africa's freest and most open constitutions...

Liberia sets the pace for Ghana by passing RTI Bill
Date:03/08/2010 Accra, Aug...

Gambia: Disappeared journalist should be released on 'Freedom Day'
Date:23/07/2010 As Gambia celebrates ‘Freedom Day’ today (22 July), Amnesty International is calling on the Gambian authorities to release journalist Ebrima Manneh...

Ghana's Ashanti NPP says primaries will be free and open
Date:20/07/2010 Kumasi, July 16, GNA - The Ashanti Regional Executive of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has calmed any nagging anxiety about the fairness of the party's up-coming presidential primaries in the region, saying, adequate measures had been put in place to make the poll transparent and credible...

Burundian online journalist faces life in prison for treason
Date:19/07/2010 Burundian authorities’ arrest on Saturday of journalist Jean-Claude Kavumbagu on treason charges over commentary critical of the country’s security forces is alarming, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...

Sudan: Government critics brutally suppressed by security service
Date:19/07/2010 Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) is carrying out a brutal campaign of arbitrary detentions, torture, and mental and physical intimidation against government opponents and critics, according to a new Amnesty International report published today (19 July)...

Burundi holds journalist for rapping govt on Somalia
Date:18/07/2010 Burundi authorities have arrested a journalist over an article questioning security forces' ability to respond to attacks by Somalia's al Shabaab insurgents, his relatives said on Sunday...

Rwanda Newspaper Website is blocked before upcoming Presidential elections.
Date:14/06/2010 A private run Rwandan newspaper known as the Umuvugizi has had its website blocked by the government...

Ethiopia: Information Without Interference
Date:30/04/2010 Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets, ' fretted Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France, as he summed up the informative powers of an independent press...

Uganda: ARTICLE 19 Lauds Whistleblowers Bill
Date:08/03/2010 ARTICLE 19 welcomes the recent bold move by the Uganda Parliament to pass the Whistleblowers Bill, a critical milestone in the country’s efforts to stem corruption and embrace transparency and accountability...

Rwanda: ARTICLE 19 Calls on Authorities to Uphold Free Expression Ahead of Presidential Elections
Date:05/03/2010 ARTICLE 19 expresses grave concerns that press freedom in Rwanda is deteriorating and that criminal charges being brought against journalists in Rwanda will contribute to the silencing of independent media voices ahead of the presidential elections later this year...

Sudan should lift Darfur security constraints - UN
Date:12/02/2010 Sudan should amend security legislation to protect freedom of speech and assembly in its conflict-torn Darfur region ahead of a nationwide election in April, a senior U...

MISA-Zimbabwe statement on Zimbabwe Media Commission appointments
Date:18/01/2010 MISA-Zimbabwe cautiously welcomes the final appointment by the President of commissioners that will serve on the statutory Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC)...

Release gay couple: Amnesty
Date:07/01/2010 Johannesburg - Amnesty International on Wednesday called on Malawian authorities to immediately release two men who were arrested for being gay...

CPJ’s annual prison census 2009: In Sub-Saharan Africa, 9 out of 10 detained without charge
Date:08/12/2009 On December 1, a total of 25 journalists were imprisoned in Sub-Saharan Africa in retaliation for their journalism, and nearly 90 percent of these journalists were detained without charges in secret detention facilities, according to an annual census of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)...

Ethiopian Newspaper Shuts Down, Editors Flee
Date:06/12/2009 One of Ethiopia's leading weekly newspapers has shut down and its senior staff left the country in the face of what they say is a government campaign of intimidation and black propaganda...

Zimbabwe: Persecution of Zinasu Leadership an Attack on Academic Freedom
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Zimbabwe: Persecution of Zinasu Leadership an Attack on Academic Freedom
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Zimbabwe: Persecution of Zinasu Leadership an Attack on Academic Freedom
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Zimbabwe: Persecution of Zinasu Leadership an Attack on Academic Freedom
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Zimbabwe: Persecution of Zinasu Leadership an Attack on Academic Freedom
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Gambia: UN Declares 'Chief Manneh's Detention Illegal'
Date:20/11/2009 The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has determined that The Gambia's arrest and continued detention of Chief Ebrima Manneh is unlawful under international law...

Nigeria: Country, OIC, Move Against Religious Defamation
Date:23/10/2009 Nigeria amongst other African countries and Organisation of Islamic Countries, OIC, is proposing what human rights organisations have described as a potentially dangerous bill to the United Nations on defamation of religion ...

Cameroon journalist expelled for bogus reasons
Date:15/10/2009 Innocent Ebodé, editor of the privately-owned weekly La Voix published in the capital N’Djamena was expelled from Chad yesterday after the authorities accused the Cameroon national of “staying illegally” in Chad...

Stakeholders agree framework to secure freedom of expression for citizens
Date:05/10/2009 Accra, Oct...

Stakeholders agree framework to secure freedom of expression for citizens
Date:05/10/2009 …

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Date:29/09/2009 Amnesty International today urged the government of Swaziland to institute a judicially-led public inquiry into the violent attack, on 21 September, by Correctional Services security officers on journalists and political activists at Matsapha Central Correctional Institute...

Somalia: IFJ Concerned by Degradation of Freedom of Expression in Somaliland
Date:24/09/2009 The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today expressed its concern over the continuous degradation of freedom of expression in Somaliland, following the publication of a new report by the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), an IFJ affiliate, on the state of freedom of expression and cases of violations of media freedom in Somaliland...

Nigeria: Police urged to consider all possibilities in newspaper editor’s murder
Date:23/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders is deeply shocked by the murder of Bayo Ohu, the assistant news editor of the Lagos-based daily The Guardian...

Eritrea: September 18, 2001, in Eritrea: A memory that never fades
Date:21/09/2009 It feels like it happened just yesterday...

Eritrea: World’s biggest prison for journalists eight years after September 2001 round-ups
Date:21/09/2009 Eritrea now has at least 30 journalists and two media workers behind bars, which means that, exactly eight years after the round-ups of 18 September 2001 that put an end to free expression, it has achieved parity with China and Iran in terms of the number of journalists detained...

Eritrea: “Refugee at last” – Eritrean journalist Tedros Abraham’s tale of how he got to Norway
Date:16/09/2009 'After two years in exile and journeying thousands of miles, Eritrean journalist and academic Tedros Abraham has posted an account of his odyssey online...

DRC: Death threats sent to three women journalists in Bukavu
Date:14/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders today voiced deep concern about anonymous death threats sent by text to three women journalists in crime-ridden Bukavu, capital of Sud-Kivu province in the east of the country...

Uganda: Four radio stations closed and a talk-show host detained for inciting riots
Date:14/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the government’s closure of four radio stations and its ban on live debate programmes in response to the protests that have shaken Kampala in recent days...

Uganda: Ugandan radio stations shut; debate programs banned
Date:14/09/2009 The government-run Uganda Broadcasting Council effectively shut down four radio stations today and Thursday, and ordered all radio stations to halt political debate programming in the wake of violent clashes in the capital, Kampala...

Ethiopia: Ethiopia opposition says its members being jailed
Date:11/09/2009 A coalition of opposition parties accused the Ethiopian authorities on Thursday of arresting some of its members on trumped up charges to stop them running in an election scheduled for next May...

Rwanda: Rwandan minister: ‘It’s OK to be anti-government’
Date:11/09/2009 'CPJ sat down recently with the Rwandan minister of information, Louise Mushikiwabo, who spoke of several media developments, including a new press law...

Gambia: Newly freed, Gambian columnist describes jail
Date:09/09/2009 'On an ordinary Friday, Sarata Jabbi-Dibba, a reporter in the West African nation of Gambia, publishes her weekly column on women’s issues, “She She She, ” in the only independent daily newspaper here, The Point...

Gabon: Gabonese media under attack since election
Date:04/09/2009 Five journalists and a TV station covering Gabon's disputed presidential election, which has already been marred by media censorship, have been attacked since Wednesday, according to local journalists and news reports...

Niger: Ailing editor taken to remote prison in Niger
Date:03/09/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the health of imprisoned editor Abdoulaye Tiémogo after his transfer from a hospital in Niger's capital, Niamey, to a prison in a remote town on Monday...

Gabon election marred by media censorship
Date:02/09/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Gabonese government censorship and restrictions on media coverage of Sunday's presidential elections, including denials of accreditation to at least four international journalists...

Gabon: Media coverage of presidential election likely to be heavily restricted
Date:01/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns the array of restrictions that the Gabonese authorities have imposed on journalists in the run-up to the 30 August presidential election...

Senegal: Radio and television group blacked out for payment default
Date:01/09/2009 Reporters Without Borders today voiced dismay at brutal methods used yesterday by police in Dakar who mounted a dawn raid to shut down the broadcast group Walfadjri...

Namibia / Ruling Party Newspaper Sued For Defamation
Date:26/08/2009 The Executive Director of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), Phil ya Nangoloh, threatened to sue the ruling South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO)’s mouthpiece, “Namibia Today”, for N$250 000 (U$31 250) in defamation after the paper called him a “pathological liar”...

Uganda: Four from Uganda's Monitor face criminal charges
Date:26/08/2009 Four journalists from Uganda's largest independent newspaper are facing criminal prosecutions, joining four others already charged since 2007, according to local journalists and news reports...

Zimbabwe / Public Condemns State Newspaper Editor
Date:25/08/2009 Caesar Zvayi, Deputy Editor with “The Herald”, a state owned newspaper received heavy criticism from members of the public during a hearing on the state of public media convened by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Media, Information and Communication Technology on 22 August 2009...

Somalia: Harassment of journalists continues in Somaliland with two arrested and one beaten
Date:21/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders calls for the immediate release of two journalists employed by Radio Horyaal, an independent station based in Hargeisa, the capital of the breakaway northwestern territory of Somaliland...

Rwanda: Two journalists given jail sentences in separate cases two days apart
Date:17/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders calls for the release of two journalists who have been given prison sentences in separate cases in the past few days...

Zambia: Press freedom slips in Zambia
Date:17/08/2009 In Zambia, the coming week will mark the anniversary of the untimely death of President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa...

Gambia: Gambia: Six journalists condemned to two years in Mile 2 prison
Date:11/08/2009 Amnesty International today expressed dismay at yesterday’s sentencing of six Gambian journalists, including three executive members of the Gambian Press Union, to terms in prison...

Nigeria: Saharawi Mothers Seek Permission for Children's Trip
Date:11/08/2009 The mothers of the six Saharawi youngsters, who were prevented from travelling to London, by Moroccan authorities at the airport in Agadir, Morocco on Wednesday, have expressed support to their sons...

Gambia: Gambian court convicts six journalists of sedition
Date:10/08/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the highly politicized court verdict against six independent journalists today in the capital of the Gambia, Banjul...

Rwanda: Independent weekly suspended for three months
Date:10/08/2009 'Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns the High Media Council’s decision on 5 August to ask the information ministry to close the independent weekly Umuseso for three months for likening the current government to the one that was in power in the run-up to the 1994 genocide...

Niger: Niger president tightens grip on media with amendment
Date:06/08/2009 In Niger today, the government is holding a public referendum on a constitutional amendment that would pave the way for President Mamadou Tandja to run for office indefinitely...

Sudan: ARTICLE 19 Pledges Solidarity with Journalist Over “Trouser Trial”
Date:06/08/2009 ARTICLE 19 castigates the Government of the Republic of Sudan for its continued suppression of fundamental human rights, as demonstrated most recently by the arrest and prosecution of Lubna Ahmed Hussein for “indecent dressing”...

Zambia reporter in 'porn' trial
Date:06/08/2009 The news editor of Zambia's largest independent newspaper has gone on trial accused of distributing obscene images...

Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe's glimmer of hope for press freedom
Date:06/08/2009 Some Zimbabwean journalists say 2003 was the most repressive year for independent journalists...

Zimbabwe: Zim lifts reporting restrictions on BBC
Date:05/08/2009 The Zimbabwean government has lifted a ban on the BBC reporting freely from the former British colony, ending restrictions in place for eight years, the broadcaster said Thursday...

Niger: In Niger, two journalists detained ahead of referendum
Date:04/08/2009 Two Nigerien editors whose weekly newspapers reported on corruption charges involving the national human rights commission have been in police custody since Saturday, according to local journalists and news reports...

Congo: For RFI, static in Kinshasa
Date:04/08/2009 Like many radio listeners in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, I tune to Radio France Internationale (RFI) on 93...

Africa: Ray of light among media freedom gloom
Date:04/08/2009 The media continues to be under siege in Africa, and a number of high-profile issues in recent weeks have once again highlighted the depressing state of press freedom across the continent...

Gambia: Only the Gambian president has press freedom
Date:03/08/2009 On July 22, Gambian President Yahya Jammeh once again went after journalists in an interview on the country's only state-run television station...

Zimbabwe: In encouraging move, leading international broadcasters allowed to return to Zimbabwe
Date:03/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders welcomes the Zimbabwean government’s decision to allow the British Broadcasting Corporation and the US television news channel CNN to work in Zimbabwe again...

Zimbabwe: In historic move for press freedom, government lifts ban on The Daily News
Date:03/08/2009 Reporters Without Borders is delighted to learn that Zimbabwe’s leading privately-owned daily, which was always ready to criticise President Robert Mugabe, has received permission to resume publishing after being banned for six years...

Gambia: President’s threats leave journalists no room for free expression
Date:29/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders is very concerned about the seven journalists, all members of the Gambia Press Union, who are being tried for criticising President Yahya Jammeh...

DRC: Minister carries out threat to shut down French station’s broadcasts throughout country
Date:28/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders and Journalist in Danger (JED), its partner organisation in Democratic Republic of Congo, strongly condemn the government’s shutdown of local FM retransmission of the French public radio station Radio France Internationale (RFI) throughout the country since 26 July...

Gambia: Call to drop sedition charges against journalists
Date:27/07/2009 A Paris-based media group has called on the Gambian authorities to drop charges against seven journalists charged with sedition, notes a report on the News24 site...

Somalia: Somaliland government increases attacks on press
Date:27/07/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalist condemns the government's growing crackdown on the independent press in the northern breakaway republic of Somaliland as September presidential elections near...

Congo: Suspension lifted for independent television station
Date:17/07/2009 Canal Plus Bénédiction (CB Plus), a faith-based television station broadcast from Brazzaville, was reauthorised to broadcast on 3 July 2009 following a five-month suspension...

The Gambia: Amnesty International demands freedom for Gambians
Date:17/07/2009 Freedom Day, which takes place on 22 July 2009, is a national holiday in Gambia...

Zambia: Bogus charges filed against
Date:17/07/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the arrest of Zambian journalist Chansa Kabwela on bogus charges of circulating obscene materials...

Sudan: Reporter on trial for dressing in a sensational manner
Date:16/07/2009 ANHRI expresses deep concern over the trial of opposition reporter Lubna Ahmed Al-Hussein, who has been accused of dressing in a sensational manner...

Africa: Thirty-two IFEX members and partners raise concerns about proposed AU-EU Pan African Media Observatory project
Date:16/07/2009 The following statement is issued by the under-listed organizations following the invitation by the European Commission (EC) and the African Union (AU) for responses from organizations involved in media development to the Pan-African Media Observatory Project (PAMO)...

Tanzania: Independent newspaper takes government to talk over controversial media law
Date:13/07/2009 After suffering a government ban for three months for allegedly tarnishing the name of the head of state in October 2008, and personal attacks that left its editor, Saed Kubenea, almost blind in January 2008, the Mwanahalisi newspaper, a small but vibrant publication and leading crusader against corruption in Tanzanian society has now challenged the constitutionality of the Newspapers Act...

Nigeria: Two journalists held by Kano state police released
Date:10/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders hails the release of two journalists who were arrested by the Kano state police in connection with reports about Kano's governor...

The Gambia: ECOWAS Court dismisses government's objections over jurisdiction in case of tortured journalist
Date:09/07/2009 On 30 June 2009, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court, hearing the case of torture brought by Gambian journalist Musa Saidykhan against operatives of the Gambia's notorious National Intelligence Agency (NIA), dismissed preliminary objections raised by the Gambian government, the defendant in the case...

Swaziland: Journalists barred from covering workshop for legislators
Date:09/07/2009 Journalists covering an HIV/AIDS workshop for Swazi parliamentarians were on 30 June 2009 kicked out of the workshop after MPs and senators expressed displeasure at their presence...

Six Gambia Press Union journalists freed on bail
Date:08/07/2009 The six journalists who were returned to Banjul’s Mile Two prison on 3 July were released again this morning on bail of 400, 000 dalassi (10, 800 euros)...

Somalia: Journalist killed in Mogadishu, NUSOJ demands immediate end of hostilities
Date:07/07/2009 The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) renewed its call for the immediate end of hostilities in Mogadishu as the 6th journalist was shot dead on 4 July 2009 in the capital city...

Swazi lawyer challenges Act
Date:07/07/2009 A leading Swaziland lawyer launched a court bid on Monday to have charges of sedition and subversive activities against him declared unlawful, saying they are inconsistent with the constitution...

Zimbabwe: State concedes Mukoko's detention was illegal
Date:07/07/2009 Former news reader with the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) and director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, Jestina Mukoko, on 25 June 2009 appeared before the full bench of the Supreme Court sitting as a Constitutional Court challenging the infringement of her constitutional rights to liberty, full protection of the law and right to freedom from torture...

Ethiopia: Proposed counterterrorism bill violates free speech
Date:06/07/2009 Ethiopia's draft counterterrorism law could punish political speech and peaceful protest as terrorist acts and encourage unfair trials if enacted, Human Rights Watch said today...

Gambia: Seven journalists re-arrested in the Gambia
Date:06/07/2009 'We issued the following statement in response to reports that the Gambia's High Court jailed six journalists today who were charged with sedition and criminal defamation...

Gambia: Seven journalists re-arrested in the Gambia
Date:06/07/2009 'We issued the following statement in response to reports that the Gambia's High Court jailed six journalists today who were charged with sedition and criminal defamation...

Gambia: Seven journalists re-arrested in the Gambia
Date:06/07/2009 We issued the following statement in response to reports that the Gambia's High Court jailed six journalists today who were charged with sedition and criminal defamation...

Uganda: Constitutional Court blows chance to expand free speech
Date:06/07/2009 A month ago today, the Constitutional Court dismissed a petition seeking to abolish the law of criminal defamation/libel...

Zimbabwe: Government backs down on accreditation policy for journalists
Date:06/07/2009 In a statement released on 24 June 2009, the Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity said it had no intention of defying a provisional High Court order granted in favour of four freelance journalists but attributed delays in complying with the order in question to financial constraints...

Rwanda: New threat to ban BBC broadcasts
Date:01/07/2009 Reporters Without Borders today voiced its indignation after the information minister, Louise Mushikiwabo, made a new threat to ban Kinyarwanda-language broadcasts by the BBC if the British radio did not change its editorial line...

Tenth Gambian Journalist Seized in June is Released on Bail
Date:30/06/2009 A tenth Gambian journalist arrested since the government’s June 15 crackdown on the press was released Wednesday after two days of confinement in a Banjul cell...

Gambian journalists freed on bail in sedition case
Date:24/06/2009 Seven Gambian journalists charged with sedition last week for criticizing the president have been freed on bail, while two other detainees were released without charge, local journalists and the press union told CPJ today...

Uphold free expression, Gambia told
Date:24/06/2009 The African Union Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights on Tuesday urged Gambian President Yahya Jammeh to uphold the right to free expression after a recent media crackdown...

Equatorial Guinea journalist under arrest
Date:23/06/2009 A journalist in Equatorial Guinea, facing a criminal libel charge over a flawed story, was imprisoned on Wednesday, according to local journalists...

Seven Gambian journalists charged with sedition, another arrested
Date:23/06/2009 A magistrate in the Gambian capital, Banjul, today charged seven journalists with sedition for criticizing President Yahya Jammeh’s televised comments about the unsolved 2004 murder of editor Deyda Hydara, their defense lawyer said...

Equatorial Guinea journalist under arrest
Date:19/06/2009 A journalist in Equatorial Guinea, facing a criminal libel charge over a flawed story, was imprisoned on Wednesday, according to local journalists...

The Gambia: Journalists and Gambia Press Union Executive
Date:19/06/2009 Seven journalists and members of the Gambia Press Union (GPU) Executive have been held without charge by the Gambian National Intelligence Agency (NIA) since being called for questioning on 15 June 2009...

Malawi: Radio station resumes operations
Date:19/06/2009 On 9 June 2009, the Blantyre Magistrate court ordered police to leave the premises of Joy FM Radio, a privately owned radio station, consequently allowing the station to go back on air...

Zimbabwe: Journalist threatened following publication of article
Date:19/06/2009 Tatenda Chitagu, a journalist with The Mirror, Masvingo province's private paper, has taken legal action against the provincial chairperson who threatened her following the publication of an article in which she is alleged to have been involved in a criminal activity...

Seven Gambian press leaders arrested over Hydara reaction
Date:17/06/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists called today for Gambia's national security agency to release seven journalists it arrested on Monday...

Niger: Live discussions on privately-owned media banned
Date:16/06/2009 On 8 June 2009, Niger's media regulatory body, the High Communication Council (CSC), banned all live discussions on the prevailing political situation in the country by privately-owned electronic media outlets...

Democratic Republic of Congo: Government blocks French international radio broadcasts in Bukavu
Date:16/06/2009 Reporters Without Borders has strongly protested after the signal of Radio France International (RFI) was cut in Bukavu, capital city of Sud-Kivu in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo...

Eritrea: Independent radio station for Eritreans begins broadcasting from Paris
Date:15/06/2009 Radio Erena (”Our Eritrea”), a Tigrinya-language station broadcasting by satellite to Eritrea, began operating today in Paris, five days ahead of World Refugee Day...

Gambian journalist under arrest over false story
Date:15/06/2009 The editor of a private newspaper in the Gambia has been in police custody since Wednesday because of a story that falsely reported the sacking of two government officials, according to local journalists...

Somalia: Two broadcast journalists seriously beaten
Date:12/06/2009 The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) today expresses its alarm over aggressive attacks against two broadcast journalists in southwestern Somalia...

Zimbabwe: Security officials defy High Court order allowing journalists to cover summit
Date:12/06/2009 Security details and secretariat personnel at the ongoing Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Heads of State and Government summit in Victoria Falls barred four freelance journalists from covering the event despite a High Court order granting them permission to do so without producing accreditation cards issued by the defunct Media and Information Commission (MIC)...

Cameroon: Two journalists sentenced to five years in prison following closed-door hearing
Date:10/06/2009 On 3 June 2009, a military tribunal in Yaoundé sentenced Jacques Blaise Mvié and Charles René Nwe, general manager and editor-in-chief, respectively, of La Nouvelle newspaper, to five years in prison and a 500, 000 FCFA (approx...

Uganda: Court upholds Mwondha’s libel case
Date:08/06/2009 THE Constitutional Court has directed Nakawa Chief Magistrate’s Court to continue with criminal proceedings against The Daily Monitor journalists, who are accused of writing defamatory information against the Inspector General of Government, Faith Mwondha...

South Africa: State broadcaster accuses newspaper of theft following broadcast of documentary
Date:05/06/2009 The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has laid a charge of stolen property after the Mail and Guardian Online posted on the web an episode of the current affairs programme Special Assignment, a documentary report on political satire...

Namibia: Information Communication Bill reintroduced in Parliament
Date:05/06/2009 Namibia's Ministry of Information and Communication Technology has gazetted the Information Communications Bill...

Zimbabwe: Journalists Sue Government Over Accreditation
Date:05/06/2009 Zimbabwean journalists have sued the government, including Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai over the Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity's decision to accredit journalists wishing to cover the on-going COMESA Summit...

The Gambia: ARTICLE 19 Calls on the Gambian Government to Respect Freedom of Expression
Date:04/06/2009 ARTICLE 19 issued an oral statement at the recent 45th session of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHR), expressing the organisation’s concern about continuing violations of freedom of expression in The Gambia...

Somalia: Media Director Kidnapped
Date:04/06/2009 The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) is today condemning the kidnapping of UNIVERSAL TV Director Ibrahim Mohamed Ali...

Ethiopia: Country Moves to Strengthen Anti-Terrorism Law Media Warner Not to Serve Terrorist Purposes
Date:03/06/2009 The Ethiopian government is working on draft law providing for a tougher punishment of individuals involved in terrorist activity...

Zimbabwe: Rule of law has yet to be restored, says Tsvangirai
Date:03/06/2009 Attempts to restore the rule of law and democratic rights in Zimbabwe have failed thus far, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader, prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai has admitted...

Swaziland: Government renews intentions to pilot a new media bill
Date:02/06/2009 On 28 May 2009, the Swazi government renewed its intentions to pilot a Media Commission Bill that seeks to regulate the media by statute...

Zimbabwe Independent editors to stand trial
Date:02/06/2009 On 28 May 2009, Harare Magistrate Catherine Chimanda ruled that Vincent Kahiya and Constantine Chimakure, editors of the Zimbabwe Independent, should appear for trial on 16 June...

Sierra Leone: Analysis of Draft Information Law
Date:29/05/2009 ARTICLE 19 has prepared a Note on the draft Sierra Leonean Right to Access Information Bill 2008, prepared through a collaborative effort of local NGOs and the authorities...

Gabon targets media over coverage of Bongo's health
Date:28/05/2009 'The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the government of Gabon's crackdown on independent media coverage of President Omar Bongo's hospitalization and potential succession issues...

Gabon targets media over coverage of Bongo's health
Date:28/05/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the government of Gabon's crackdown on independent media coverage of President Omar Bongo's hospitalization and potential succession issues...

Malawi opposition radio station still off the air
Date:28/05/2009 A magistrate in Malawi should allow an opposition radio station sealed by police during general elections on May 19 to reopen, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...

Sudan: ARTICLE 19 Submits Written Statement to 11th Session of UN Human Rights Council
Date:28/05/2009 ARTICLE 19, supported by the Khartoum Center for Human Rights and Environmental Development (KCHRED), has submitted a written statement expressing serious concern about the deteriorating human rights situation in Sudan to the 11th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, taking place from 2 to 19 June 2009...

Zimbabwe: Foreign journalists welcome to do their job, says PM
Date:28/05/2009 Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai announced last week that foreign journalists are free to report from Zimbabwe, where many have previously been banned and others arrested and harassed, report the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) and news reports...

Rwanda: Media Bill Amendment Welcome - Says Journalists
Date:27/05/2009 President Paul Kagame's move to re-table the media bill has received much acclaim from media practitioners and associations in the country...

Somalia: Kidnapped journalists in Somalia reportedly ill
Date:27/05/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists is very concerned about the well-being of two captive journalists, a Canadian and an Australian, who urged their respective governments to work harder for their release in a phone call with a reporter on Sunday...

Somalia: Radio reporter shot by militia dies of injuries, fourth journalist to be killed this year
Date:27/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders expressed shock and deep sadness at the news of the death today of journalist Nur Muse Hussein of Radio Voice of Holy Quran as a result of a bullet wound he received on 20 April...

Sudanese journalists say “a free press or no press”
Date:27/05/2009 Fury has swept across the media in Sudan as a new media law threatens to further worsen conditions and heighten prerequisites for practicing journalism in the country...

Gambia: Freedom Of Expression Rapporteur On The Gambia
Date:22/05/2009 The Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa at the African Commission on Human and People’s Right (ACHPR), Commissioner Madam Pansy Tlakula, indicated, in her activity report, submitted to the Commission’s 45th ordinary session, the Commission’s concerns on the harassment and intimidation of the independent media in The Gambia...

Malawi journalists detained during presidential election
Date:20/05/2009 Authorities in Malawi should immediately release three journalists arrested today in a police raid on an opposition radio station, the Committee to Protect Journalists said...

Kenya: ARTICLE 19 Calls for Expansion of Freedom of Expression Rights to be Integrated into the New Draft Constitution of Kenya
Date:18/05/2009 Today, ARTICLE 19 Kenya and East Africa, based in Nairobi, Kenya, submitted its comments to the Committee of Experts for the new Constitutional Review Process currently ongoing in Kenya...

Zimbabwe media lawyer free a day after arrest
Date:18/05/2009 We welcome good news from Zimbabwe today as authorities released Alec Muchadehama, one of many lawyers working in defense of persecuted journalists in that country...

Botswana: Deep Divisions Remain Over Media Law
Date:15/05/2009 Inter Press Services news agency reports that deep divisions still remain in Botswana over the Media Practitioners Act passed in December 2008...

Kenya to dispel repressive clause in media law
Date:15/05/2009 The Kenyan government has finally conceded to repealing the repressive clause in the country's media law, but the decision is yet to be approved by parliament...

Zimbabwe media defense lawyer arrested
Date:15/05/2009 Police in Zimbabwe should immediately release Alec Muchadehama, left, a prominent human rights lawyer targeted for his work on behalf of journalist Anderson Shadreck Manyere and others, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...

Zimbabwe: Banned singer to attend the Global Forum on Freedom of Expression in Norway
Date:15/05/2009 Zimbabwe protest musician Viomak has been invited to participate at the Global Forum on Freedom of Expression (GFFE) lasting from 1 June through to 6 June 2009 in Oslo...

Kenya: MPs urged to act fast on media law
Date:14/05/2009 Kenya media owners have asked parliament to act fast on amendments to the Communications Act that will delete the controversial clause that empowers the State to raid broadcasting stations...

Zimbabwe: Three journalists arrested, held overnight then freed on bail
Date:14/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns a police raid on the Harare headquarters of the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper on 9 May and the arrests of its director, editor and news editor two days later...

Angola: In continuing harassment, newspaper editor forbidden to leave country
Date:13/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the foreign travel ban that has been placed on William Tonet, the editor of the independent Luanda-based biweekly Folha 8 (F8), whose passport was seized when he tried to cross by land into Namibia on 9 May...

Zimbabwe minister calls for media law changes
Date:13/05/2009 A former opposition politician who joined Zimbabwes government as deputy information minister is calling for changes in the laws under which two journalists were arrested this week...

Zimbabwe: Arrest of Journalists Unfortunate
Date:13/05/2009 The Deputy Minister of Information and Publicity Jameson Timba, has said the arrest of Zimbabwe Independent journalists is unfortunate as it comes at a time the country is working on reforming tough media laws...

ZIMBABWE: Laws used to
Date:13/05/2009 A senior Zimbabwean government official has admitted that laws passed by the previous administration were still being used to criminalise journalism and needed to be changed, after two journalists more were arrested earlier this week...

Botswana: Publishers challenge media law
Date:12/05/2009 A lawyer representing publishers in Botswana says they have taken a first legal step they hope will lead to a new media law being declared unconstitutional...

Zimbabwe journalists urge media law reform
Date:12/05/2009 Zimbabwean journalists want the countrys new unity government to scrap tough media laws which critics say President Robert Mugabe has used to muzzle his opponents...

Kenya: Civil Society Adopt the Machakos Declaration on Freedom of Expression in Kenya
Date:11/05/2009 ARTICLE 19 Kenya/East Africa organised a ground-breaking forum on freedom of expression in Kenya which brought together representatives from Kenyan civil society including media professionals, academics, human rights defenders, and youth and community representatives in Machakos...

Zimbabwe: Journalists Spurn Govt Summit on Press Freedom
Date:11/05/2009 Media organisations this week dug in their heels over boycotting a national media conference in the resort town of Kariba...

Botswana publishers challenge media law
Date:08/05/2009 A lawyer representing publishers in Botswana says they have taken a first legal step they hope will lead to a new media law being declared unconstitutional...

Madagascar: Detained Radio Mada reporter is charged and transferred to prison
Date:08/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders is alarmed by today's decision to keep Radio Mada sports reporter Evariste Ramanantsoavina in detention and charge him with inciting revolt against the republic's institutions, defamation and disseminating false information...

Democratic Republic of Congo: Government suspends French public radio broadcasts in northeast
Date:07/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders wrote yesterday to communication and media minister Lambert Mendé condemning the government's decision to suspend local retransmission of the French public radio station Radio France Internationale (RFI) in the northeastern city of Bunia, and voicing concern at the possibility that the measure could be extended to the rest of the country...

Côte d’Ivoire: French photographer freed after being held for 16 months in Abidjan
Date:07/05/2009 Reporters Without Borders hails the provisional release today of French photographer Jean-Paul Ney, who had been held in Abidjan since late December 2007 in connection with a conspiracy to overthrow the Ivorian government known as the Christmas in Abidjan affair...

Zimbabwe: Journalists protest re-arrests and boycott govt media conference
Date:07/05/2009 The re-arrests of political and human rights activists has sparked fury among civil society in Zimbabwe...

Kenya: The other side of the controversial media law
Date:05/05/2009 Imagine transacting in a paperless environment...

Zimbabwe: Timba calls for repeal of media laws
Date:05/05/2009 Media, Information and Publicity Deputy Minister Jameson Timba has criticised Zimbabwean media laws for limiting press freedom and freedom of expression...

Nigeria: Promoting Access to Information and the Right to Health
Date:01/05/2009 Participants at two pilot workshops organised by ARTICLE 19, in partnership with the Center for the Right to Health (CRH) and Media Rights Agenda(MRA), have adopted strategies promoting the right of access to information in health matters in two Nigerian: Enugu and Lagos...

South Africa: Freeze on pardons ‘a victory’
Date:30/04/2009 An interim North Gauteng High Court order freezing the granting of presidential pardons for politically motivated apartheid-era crimes was yesterday welcomed as a massive victory for freedom of expression...

Niger: Newspaper publisher loses appeal
Date:29/04/2009 The Niamey Court of Appeal in Niger upheld the three-month sentence handed to Boussada Ben Ali, publisher of LAction weekly newspaper, by a Magistrates Court...

Somalia: Independent news agency launched in Djibouti aims to be reliable source of news about Somalia
Date:29/04/2009 The Somali Independent News Agency (SOMINA) was unveiled today in Djibouti by Omar Faruk Osman Nur, the secretary-general of the National Union of Somali journalists, and Robert Ménard, the head of the Doha Centre for Media Freedom...

Sudanese journalists angry at new media law
Date:29/04/2009 Sudanese journalists are up in arms over a move to send controversial media laws to Parliament before consultations between different players are over, writes Dennis Itumbi for journalism...

Somalia: Islamist militia closes radio station, arrests three journalists
Date:28/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders strongly condemns the raid which members of the Islamist armed group Al-Shabaab carried out yesterday on Radio Jubba in Baidoa (250 km northwest of Mogadishu), closing the station and arresting three of its journalists...

Namibia: Concern over appointment of ruling party activist to communications board
Date:27/04/2009 Cabinet recently endorsed the appointment of the controversial Editor of the SWAPO Party newspaper, Asser Landulandje Ntinda, as board member of the Namibia Communications Commission (NCC)...

Zimbabwe: Police launch manhunt for freelance photojournalist
Date:27/04/2009 On 24 April 2009, Zimbabwe's Police launched a search for freelance journalist; Anderson Shadreck Manyere who was recently released on bail from Chikurubi Maximum Prison together with co-accused Movement for Democratic Change activist Gandhi Mudzingwa and Kisimusi Dhlamini...

The Gambia: Regional group asked to intercede on behalf of missing journalist
Date:24/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders has written to Dr...

Madagascar: Media under attack one month after new president installed
Date:24/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders strongly condemns the return of censorship to Madagascar in the form of orders to the state-owned media not to cover opposition demonstrations...

Sudan: Revise Repressive Press Law / End to Censorship Necessary for Free and Fair Elections in 2010
Date:24/04/2009 Sudan's parliament should make major changes to a draft press law to ensure that it protects freedom of speech as guaranteed under the Sudanese constitution and international law, Human Rights Watch said today...

Zimbabwe: Furore Over Media Conference
Date:24/04/2009 MEDIA organisations yesterday threatened to boycott an all-stakeholders' conference in Nyanga next month to review the country's media environment and policies saying its agenda was flawed and contrary to the principles of the global political agreement (GPA)...

Central African Republic: Daily suspended for two weeks
Date:22/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders voices its support for the newspaper editors who have decided to bring out no issues for two weeks from today in solidarity with the daily L'Hirondelle, which was suspended by the High Council for Communication (HCC) for two weeks from yesterday for publishing an article on 2 April allegedly calling for sedition by the armed forces...

Swaziland: Senators threaten media
Date:22/04/2009 Senators in the Swaziland Parliament have threatened to charge the local media with contempt of Parliament following stories about an altercation between the Senate President and a Senator Senate President, Gelane Zwane and Senator Ndileka Dlamini engaged in a verbal showdown on 30 March 2009 and almost came to blows...

Togo: Broadcast media forbidden to let public express views on the air
Date:21/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns an order issued by the High Council for Broadcasting and Communication (HAAC) on 17 April banning all radio and TV programmes in which the public is allowed to express its views...

Zimbabwe: Freelance photojournalist released on bail
Date:21/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders today welcomed with relief the release on bail of freelance photojournalist Shadreck Anderson Manyere on 18 April but urged the authorities to drop all charges against him...

Togo: Broadcast media forbidden to let public express views on the air
Date:20/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns an order issued by the High Council for Broadcasting and Communication (HAAC) on 17 April banning all radio and TV programmes in which the public is allowed to express its views...

Zambia: Controversial Radio Station Manager removed from Radio Icengelo
Date:20/04/2009 On 13 April, 2009, Ndola Catholic Diocese Bishop Noel O' Regan removed Fr...

Sudan: Two dailies hit by prior censorship
Date:17/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the pre-publication censorship of the privately-owned dailies Al-Midan and Ajras Alhurya...

South Africa: The Presidency introduces a new web-based media database
Date:16/04/2009 In an effort to better communicate with the media, The Presidency has developed a new Web Based Media Database which will allow journalists to personally update contact details...

DRC: Armed intruders threaten journalist in Nord-Kivu home
Date:16/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders wrote yesterday to the governor of the eastern province of Nord-Kivu, Julien Paluku Kahongya, voicing deep concern about an armed attack on Radiotélévision Nationale Congolaise journalist Tuver Wundi Muhindo on 12 April in Goma, the provincial capital...

Somalia: Journalist freed after 20 days of imprisonment, journalists grieve for death of another journalist
Date:16/04/2009 The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) today welcomes with joy the release of Journalist Jama Ayanle Feyte from Bossasso jail after Puntland President pardoned...

Gambia must account for missing journalist Ebrima Manneh
Date:15/04/2009 Gambian authorities must authoritatively account for the whereabouts, health, and legal status of journalist Chief Ebrimah Manneh, left, who was taken into government custody by security agents in July 2006, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today...

Sudan: ARTICLE 19 Voices Serious Concerns on the Draft Press Law
Date:15/04/2009 ARTICLE 19 today releases its Note on the Draft Law of Sudan on Press and Printed Press Materials...

Côte d’Ivoire: UN Media Tour Visits Joint UN Projects in Korhogo area
Date:09/04/2009 A group of about 10 journalists participating since Monday in a Media Tour organized by the UN system in Côte d'Ivoire had an opportunity on Tuesday to take a close look at the results of joint action by UN agencies in Korhogo (663 km north of Abidjan) and elsewhere in Les Savanes region...

ZIMBABWE: Zim to relax media laws
Date:09/04/2009 Zimbabwes new power-sharing government will relax the countrys harsh media laws and improve prison conditions as part of reforms to be implemented within 100 days, a minister told state media Monday...

Niger: In latest judicial harassment of broadcasting group, director-general charged with “false news”
Date:03/04/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the arrest of Abibou Garba, the director-general of the Dounia radio and TV group, on 1 April in connection with a debate broadcast by Dounia TV in which an NGO activist criticised French President Nicolas Sarkozy's recent visit to Niamey...

Democratic Republic of Congo: Two radio stations shut down in DRC
Date:01/04/2009 The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the southeastern Congolese city of Likasi to allow two private stations to return to the air...

Somalia: Freelance journalist gets two years in prison in Puntland on defamation charge
Date:01/04/2009 A court in Bosaso, the main port city of the semi-autonomous northern region of Puntland, yesterday sentenced freelance journalist Jama Ayanle Feyte to two years in prison, Reporters Without Borders has learned from its partner organisation in Somalia, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ)...

Swaziland: Five radio stations apply for licenses
Date:01/04/2009 Five radio stations have filed applications for licenses with the radio broadcast regulator, the Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (SPTC), following a recent call by the regulator for applications for the licenses approved by government last year...

DRC: “Bukavu, murder city”: investigation report into murders of journalists in the capital of Sud-Kivu
Date:30/03/2009 Reporters Without Borders today releases an investigation report into murders of journalists in Bukavu, the capital of Sud-Kivu at the easternmost extreme of the Democratic Republic of Congo, almost four months after the latest killing, that of Didace Namujimbo...

Eritrea / Swedish newspapers call for release of journalist held since 2001
Date:30/03/2009 Reporters Without Borders supports the call for the release of Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaac that two Swedish dailies published on their front page today...

Nigeria / Journalist released after one week in custody
Date:27/03/2009 Reporters Without Borders today welcomed the release on 24 March of Akin Orimolade, bureau chief in the central city of Abuja for Lagos-based weekly National Life...

Zimbabwe / Ministry to hold consultative media conference on media law reforms in Zimbabwe
Date:27/03/2009 The Ministry of Information will from 28 March hold a two-day consultative conference to review the country's media policies and chart a new direction for the sector ahead of impending changes to statutes governing the profession...

Ivory Coast / Examining judge orders release of French journalist but prosecutor appeals
Date:25/03/2009 French freelance photographer Jean-Paul Ney, who has been held in custody for 15 months in connection with an alleged plot to undermine the country's peace process, told Reporters Without Borders today that the judge handling the case ordered his release four days ago...

Ivory Coast / Examining judge orders release of French journalist but prosecutor appeals
Date:24/03/2009 French freelance photographer Jean-Paul Ney, who has been held in custody for 15 months in connection with an alleged plot to undermine the country's peace process, told Reporters Without Borders today that the judge handling the case ordered his release four days ago...

Zimbabwe / Magistrate defers ruling on Freelance photojournalist’s application for refusal of further remand
Date:24/03/2009 A ruling on an application for refusal of further remand of detained freelance photojournalist, Anderson Shadreck Manyere was on 23 March 2009 deferred to 24 March 2009 by Harare Magistrate Gloria Takundwa...

Somalia / Editor of Somaliland weekly sentenced to five months in prison
Date:20/03/2009 A court in Hargeisa, the capital of the northern breakaway territory of Somaliland, sentenced Mohamed Abdi Guled, the editor of the Hargeisa-based weekly Yool, to five months in prison on 17 March on charges of operating an unregistered newspaper and publishing fabricated information...

ZIMBABWE: Top lawyer nominated for freedom of expression award
Date:20/03/2009 HARRISON Nkomo, a top Zimbabwean human rights lawyer known over the past decade for defending journalists in Zimbabwe, has been nominated for the Bindmans Law and Campaigning Award by Index on Censorship...

South Africa / SABC denies manipulating news
Date:19/03/2009 The SABC on 11 March 2008, denied allegations that its group head of news, Snuki Zikalala, manipulated content for political purposes...

BURUNDI: The United States welcomes release from prison of Burundian journalist
Date:19/03/2009 The United States welcomes yesterday's release from prison of Burundian journalist Alexis Sinduhije, after he was found not guilty of the charge of insulting the President...

Gambia / Adjournment of trials facing editor of the daily The Point
Date:19/03/2009 Editor of the daily The Point, Pap Saine, yesterday had two trials in which he is facing charges adjourned to later in the month...

Senegal / Three community radio stations suspended for broadcasting political programmes
Date:17/03/2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns a decision by the National Council for Broadcasting Regulation (CNRA) on 14 March to suspend three community radio stations based in the Dakar suburbs for two months for violating the rules governing their operations by covering political issues relating to the current local election campaign...

Mozambique / Government condemns attacks on press, identifies MISA as a strategic partner
Date:16/03/2009 The Mozambican government firmly and vehemently condemns all acts that attack press freedom, declared Deputy Education Minister Luis Covane, on 12 March 2009...

KENYA: Media law deadlock broken
Date:09/03/2009 The government has agreed to repeal the most contentious section of the Communications (Amendment) Act after meeting with media representatives...

Nigeria: Freedom of Expression Vs. Character Assassination
Date:09/03/2009 Nigeria as a state has majority of its citizens coming from the major religions of Islam and Christianity...

Rwanda: Communications and Electronic Information - New Law on Media
Date:09/03/2009 On February 23, 2009, the Lower Chamber of the Rwandan Parliament approved a new media law...

Sudan’s constitution requires cooperation with relief agencies, SHRO
Date:09/03/2009 Cairo notes with deep concerns the systematic harassment of civil society groups by the Presidency and the National Security and Intelligence Service, in addition to the Publications and Press Council which exercises harsh censorial powers over journalists and the Press...

SENEGAL: Three-year jail sentence for newspaper editor upheld on appeal
Date:25/02/2009 A Dakar appeal court yesterday upheld the three-year jail sentence passed on El Malick Seck, the editor of the Dakar-based daily 24 Heures Chrono, on 12 September for a vaguely-sourced report claiming the president and his son Karim were involved in money laundering in Côte d'Ivoire...

Rwanda's new media law fails to protect sources
Date:24/02/2009 Rwandas Lower Chamber of Parliament has unanimously passed the law governing the media after agreeing to all amendments made by a joint ad hoc committee, writes Robert Mugabe in The New Times...

Zimbabwe / Freelance photojournalist further remanded in custody
Date:24/02/2009 Harare magistrate, Gloria Takundwa on 20 February 2009 further remanded detained freelance photojournalist Anderson Shadreck Manyere, to 6 March 2009, pending a trial date...

KENYA: Media owners asked to push for review of Act
Date:23/02/2009 Media owners have been asked to tell the attorney-general to speed up amendments to the media law signed by President Kibaki last month...

Sudan: End Censorship and Repression
Date:19/02/2009 The Sudanese government is censoring the media and cracking down on human rights activists and journalists who speak out on human rights and justice, Human Rights Watch said in a report today...

CONGO: Director-General deplores death of Congolese journalist Bruno Ossébi
Date:18/02/2009 The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, today deplored the death of Bruno Ossébi in the Republic of Congo and urged a full inquiry into the circumstances of this tragic event...

Ethiopia - Sudden, shocking “explanation” on press registration
Date:17/02/2009 …In addition, - according to article 6, proclamation 590/2008 - an individual assigned as an editor should be other than the owner(s) of the press...

Botswana: Appeal on the Media Practitioners Act
Date:16/02/2009 We, the undersigned freedom of expression organisations, make reference to the above matter and hereby appeal to your office and that of the Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology to review the Media Practitioners Act passed by Parliament on 11 December and assented to by the Executive on 31 December 2008...

TANZANIA: MCT monitoring exercise a laudable initiative
Date:16/02/2009 The Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) has launched a print media monitoring exercise to assess how newspapers are covering specific issues...

Zimbabwe: Opposition leader and PM Designate, Tsvangirai speaks on plight of detained photojournalist
Date:11/02/2009 Prime Minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai on 10 February 2009 assured Zimbabweans of intense efforts underway to release by 11 February 2009 detained photojournalist Shadreck Manyere and human rights activist Jestina Mukoko detained together with other pro-Movement for Democratic Change activists...

Madagascar / Dismay at fatal shooting of TV reporter covering anti-government demonstration
Date:10/02/2009 Reporters Without Borders is shocked to learn that Ando Ratovonirina of privately-owned Radio et Télévision Analamanga (RTA) was shot dead while covering an anti-government demonstration outside the presidential palace in Antananarivo on 7 February...

Botswana's new media law slammed
Date:09/02/2009 THE new law on the registration of Media Practitioners in Botswana has been sharply criticised by various media institutions from outside and inside that country...

Kenya and Somalia: Deaths of Two Journalists Highlights Continued Risks for the Media
Date:09/02/2009 It's just a few short weeks into the year and two journalists have lost their lives, simply for doing their jobs...

Zimbabwe / Journalists placed on EU sanctions list.
Date:09/02/2009 Seven journalists and senior managers with the state media have been added to the European Union's (EU) targeted sanctions lists for whipping up a government orchestrated terror campaign before and during the June 2008 presidential runoff...

ERITREA: Long held in secret Eritrean jail, journalist reported in hospital
Date:06/02/2009 Eritrean authorities must disclose the medical condition and care being provided to jailed journalist Dawit Isaac, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today following unofficial reports saying that he was hospitalized...

Long held in secret Eritrean jail, journalist reported in hospital
Date:06/02/2009 ASMARA, Eritrea, February 6, 2009/African Press Organization (APO)/ - Eritrean authorities must disclose the medical condition and care being provided to jailed journalist Dawit Isaac, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today following unofficial reports saying that he was hospitalized...

Long held in secret Eritrean jail, journalist reported in hospital
Date:06/02/2009 ASMARA, Eritrea, February 6, 2009/African Press Organization (APO)/ - Eritrean authorities must disclose the medical condition and care being provided to jailed journalist Dawit Isaac, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today following unofficial reports saying that he was hospitalized...

Long held in secret Eritrean jail, journalist reported in hospital
Date:06/02/2009 'ASMARA, Eritrea, February 6, 2009/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Eritrean authorities must disclose the medical condition and care being provided to jailed journalist Dawit Isaac, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today following unofficial reports saying that he was hospitalized...

Namibia: Dismissal of NBC Director General Bob Kandetu and issues at NBC. And concern over defamation cases against media
Date:06/02/2009 MISA expresses its concern on recent developments at the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) resulting in the dismissal of the Director General Bob V Kandetu...

Senegal / UNOCI chief and counterparts participate in meeting on peace in West Africa
Date:06/02/2009 DAKAR, Sénégal, February 6, 2009/African Press Organization (APO)/ - The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, Y...

Somalia / New Violence Highlights Need for Independent Inquiry /
Date:06/02/2009 MOGADISHU, Somalia, February 6, 2009/African Press Organization (APO)/ - A new incident involving African Union troops in Mogadishu that left at least 13 people dead underscores the urgent need for an independent inquiry into laws-of-war violations by all forces in Somalia, Human Rights Watch said today...

Zimbabwe / High Court denies Mukoko bail
Date:06/02/2009 HARARE, Zimbabwe, February 6, 2009/African Press Organization (APO)/ - High Court judge Justice Chitakunye on 4 February 2009 dismissed the application for bail by detained Zimbabwe Peace Project director Jestina Mukoko on the basis that she has not been formally charged and remanded by the magistrates' court...

SOMALIA: SOCCFEX Condemns murder of Journalist in Mogadishu
Date:05/02/2009 Somali Coalition for Freedom of Expression (SOCFEX) condemned the killing of journalist Said Tahliil Ahmed who has been murdered today in Bakare Market by unknown gunmen in Mogadishu, Somalia...

South Africa: Media groups relieved as Motlanthe rejects Publications Bill
Date:03/02/2009 President Kgalema Motlanthe last week refused to sign the Films and Publications Amendment Bill, questioning its constitutionality and returning it 'untouched to Parliament...

ZIMBABWE: Reporting in a 'culture of fear'
Date:02/02/2009 Freelance journalist Frank Chikowore visited CPJ this week after receiving the Tully Center Free Speech Award at Syracuse University...

Botswana: No One is Safe from the Media Law
Date:30/01/2009 The controversial Media Practitioners' Bill is now law...

ETHIOPIA: Zero tolerance for regimes holding prisoners of conscience
Date:30/01/2009 Absolutely nothing saddens me more than thinking of Birtukan Mideksa back in jail for exercising her right to freedom of expression, more so as leader of a popular political party, UDJP...

Madagascar President to Hold Talks with Opposition Over Escalating Tension
Date:29/01/2009 Madagascars President Marc Ravalomanana is expected to hold talks with the opposition Wednesday in an attempt to resolve ongoing protests in the capital, Antananarivo that have left at least two people dead...

SOUTH AFRICA: President Motlanthe’s right to privacy versus freedom of expression
Date:28/01/2009 Freedom of expression as safeguarded in various constitutional and international law instruments has been developed and expanded by the case-law and the doctrine of western countries and by the struggles of journalists in a dynamic and progressive manner in line with the liberal trends and ideas of democracy that have emerged during the years following the Second World War...

Botswana defends media law
Date:27/01/2009 While Botswanas Government says reporters have nothing to fear, the new media laws have been labelled as repressive misleading...

Botswana's government defends new media law
Date:26/01/2009 Botswanas government says reporters have nothing to fear from a new media law, but a journalism advocate calls the law repressive and the official defense misleading...

BOTSWANA: GOVERNMENT PASSES REPRESSIVE MEDIA LAW
Date:22/01/2009 Botswana has hurriedly passed a controversial media law that journalists fear will restrict their work, say the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) and news reports...

Botswana journalists complain about new media law
Date:16/01/2009 Botswanas government has rushed a law into effect that journalists fear will restrict their work, journalists and opposition politicians said...

Rwanda: House Divided Over Media Bill Clause
Date:14/01/2009 The Senate has proposed the amendment of 25 articles in the Media Bill but disagreement has ensued between the two Houses over one particular article concerning the money required for investors to set up a media house...

SWAZILAND: No freedom of expression at SBIS
Date:14/01/2009 THE right to freedom of expression, as enshrined in the national constitution, is greatly compromised at the Swaziland Broadcasting Information Services (SBIS), Secretary General of the Swaziland Association of Teachers (SNAT), Muzi Mhlanga has said...

KENYA: Poghisio calls for sobriety in media law debate
Date:13/01/2009 Information and communication minister Samuel Poghisio is calling for trust between the government, parliament and the media as they strive to iron out contentious issues in the Kenya Communications (Amendment) Act 2008...

KENYA: Kibaki orders review of new media law
Date:08/01/2009 President Kibaki on Wednesday moved to defuse rising tension over his signing into law a new Bill seeking to curtail media freedom with a directive to the Attorney-General to draft amendments to the offensive clauses for review by the Cabinet...

Kenya: Kibaki Gag Law Angers Nation, Splits Government
Date:07/01/2009 President Mwai Kibakis recent decision to approve a law to gag the broadcast media has continued to outrage the country, further soiling the now debated legacy of the man who was swept to power in 2002 by a wave of hope for democratic reforms...

TANZANIA: Let investigative journalism flourish, Govt told
Date:07/01/2009 Though Tanzania has been hailed as a country which observes freedom of expression, it has been advised to amend some of its laws in order to remove potential obstacles to freedom of expression...

Central African Republic: Censorship, Self-Censorship Greatest Threats to Press Freedom in 2008, Says JED
Date:06/01/2009 Amid commemorative ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as its own 10th anniversary, JED released its 2008 annual report on press freedom on 23 December 2008...

SOMALIA: Journalist Arrested In Galkaio, Puntland
Date:30/12/2008 Somali Coalition for Freedom of Expression (SOCFEX) today condemned the detention of journalist Abdullahi Hirsi Adde who was arrested in Galkaio, Puntland on 28 December by the Police force of district Galkaio...

KENYA: Government silent as national outrage rises over Media Bill
Date:13/12/2008 The Government remained silent on the draconian Bill that legislates Government seizure of broadcast facilities...

ERITREA: Article 19 calls for an end to arbitrariness and impunity
Date:11/12/2008 As the world celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, many Eritrean journalists and political opponents are still detained without charges for more than seven (7) years...

KENYA: Media up in arms over passing of bill
Date:11/12/2008 <p style=text-align: justify>Media stakeholders have termed the passage of the communications bill by parliament on Wednesday as an act of revenge following the medias sustained campaign to have MPs allowances taxed...

SUDAN: Juba Declaration Of Concern By The Sudan National Roundtable
Date:09/12/2008 The National Roundtable meeting on democratic media legislation in Sudan held under the auspices of the Sudan Consortium 'promoting freedom of expression and civil society involvement in the development of democratic media legislation in Sudan', which met in Juba, South Sudan on 1st to 2nd December, 2008, have expressed their alarm at the deteriorating state of freedom of expression and media freedom in Sudan in a declaration of concern...

BURUNDI: Freedom of expression and association under threat warns UN expert
Date:01/12/2008 The Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Burundi, Mr...

Title Too Long
Date:01/12/2008 ARTICLE 19 calls on embassies, governments and international partners to help mitigate a rapidly deteriorating work environment for the press and human rights defenders in Khartoum, Sudan...

NIGERIA: 'Govt Won't Influence Passage of FoI Bill'
Date:26/11/2008 As the nation still waits for the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill (FoI) now before the National Assembly, the Federal Government has promised not to influence the passage of the bill...

NAMIBIA: New Bill On Communication Interception Free Expression, Says Misa
Date:25/11/2008 The Namibian chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA Namibia) has noted with grave concern the provision for Interception of Electronic Communications in the draft Information Communication Bill...

SWAZILAND: Counter-terrorism is not a pretext for repression
Date:24/11/2008 ARTICLE 19 is seriously concerned about the constricting environment the government of Swaziland is imposing on Freedom of Expression...

SWAZILAND: Counter-terrorism is not a pretext for repression
Date:24/11/2008 ARTICLE 19 is seriously concerned about the constricting environment the government of Swaziland is imposing on Freedom of Expression...

BOTSWANA: Moatlhodi's Fate, A Wake Up Call
Date:17/11/2008 The latest affront to freedom of expression by the ruling Botswana Democratic party is a clear vindication of MISA Botswana opinion that things are falling apart in this democracy...

SOMALIA: Closure of Radio Galkaio
Date:17/11/2008 Somali Coalition For Freedom of Expression (SOCFEX) today condemned the closure of radio Galkaio and the detention of the radio manager Hassan Mohamed Jama...

SOUTH AFRICA: Sanef says employees are being muzzled
Date:14/11/2008 The South African National Editors' Forum is concerned by a growing tendency among institutions to curb the freedom of expression of their employees...

SENEGAL: Training for Francophone West African Broadcasting Regulators
Date:14/11/2008 West African Broadcasting Regulators recently assembled in Dakar, Senegal for a training workshop on improving Broadcasting Policy and Regulation in the francophone zone...

SUDAN: Journalists attend mass protest in defence of freedom of expression and the press
Date:14/11/2008 ARTICLE 19 joins in solidarity with Sudanese civil society organisations and media houses demonstrating against the censorship and intimidation of Sudanese media in Khartoum...

SOUTH AFRICA: UKZN's committment to academic freedom slated
Date:11/11/2008 The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXi) has lashed out at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, questioning its commitment to academic freedom after disciplinary action against two academics...

SOUTH AFRICA: UKZN's committment to academic freedom slated
Date:11/11/2008 The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXi) has lashed out at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, questioning its commitment to academic freedom after disciplinary action against two academics...

AFRICA: AU urged to establish Protocol of Expression
Date:10/11/2008 The African Union (AU) should seriously consider establishing an additional Protocol to foster greater effect and meaning to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights' article on freedom of expression so as to forestall the enactment of repressive media and freedom of expression laws by member states...

ZIMBABWE: British journalist arrested
Date:01/11/2008 A British journalist was last Thursday arrested at Harare International Airport on allegations of practising journalism without accreditation...

KENYA: Legislation, Hate Speech, and Freedom of Expression
Date:23/10/2008 Lawrence M...

NIGERIA: News blogger detained
Date:23/10/2008 A US-based Nigerian news blogger is being held without charge by Nigerias secret service...

NIGERIA: The ambiguity in section 2(1) FOI Bill - matters arising
Date:21/10/2008 IT is a truism that a free press is essential to modern democracy...

BOTSWANA: Government giving editorial directives to state media, warns MISA
Date:16/10/2008 The Mmegi newspaper of 9 October 2008 has reported that the state-owned media is being given editorial directives to advance government positions on civic issues such as its fight against alcohol abuse...

DRC: Radio Okapi reporter threatened by armed forces officer
Date:16/10/2008 JED is extremely concerned about the safety of Radio Okapis Bunia correspondent Jean-Paul Basila, who has been the object of recent threats by officers with the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC)...

LESOTHO: Defunct weekly issued hefty fine in defamation case
Date:16/10/2008 A defunct Lesotho weekly, The Mirror, its editor and EPIC Printers were slapped with a M50 000 (USD $8 000) fine by the High Court of Lesotho on 29 September 2008 for defaming Lesotho Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili...

SUDAN: Editor detaine for three days, charged with defamation
Date:16/10/2008 The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about a criminal lawsuit that has been filed against the editor of The Citizen newspaper in Southern Sudan and calls on authorities to drop the case immediately...

TANZANIA: Newspaper suspended for 'seditious' article
Date:16/10/2008 The Tanzanian government has suspended Mwanahalisi newspaper for its alleged practice of running stories with the intention of inciting public hatred against the president and contributing to misunderstanding within the presidents family...

TANZANIA: Newspaper suspended for 'seditious' article
Date:16/10/2008 The Tanzanian government has suspended Mwanahalisi newspaper for its alleged practice of running stories with the intention of inciting public hatred against the president and contributing to misunderstanding within the presidents family...

TANZANIA: Newspaper suspended for 'seditious' article
Date:16/10/2008 The Tanzanian government has suspended Mwanahalisi newspaper for its alleged practice of running stories with the intention of inciting public hatred against the president and contributing to misunderstanding within the presidents family...

TANZANIA: Push for reform gathers momentum as coalition submits services bill
Date:16/10/2008 On 8 October 2008, Tanzanias Freedom of Information Bill Coalition Campaign submitted a draft Media Services Bill to the Minister of Information and Culture, Hon...

ZIMBABWE: Journalists barred from attending opposition press conference
Date:16/10/2008 Several journalists were on Thursday 9 October 2008 barred from entering the Prime Minister Designate, Morgan Tsvangirais Strathaven home in Harare for a press conference...

NIGER: Journalist Moussa Kaka released after more than one year in prison
Date:07/10/2008 The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today welcomed the provisional release of Moussa Kaka by authorities in Niger after the journalist spent more than a year in detention on charges that he was linked to rebels in the northern part of the country...

KENYA: Ex-journalist facing charges for ‘spreading false information’, detained for six days
Date:07/10/2008 <p style=text-align: justify>An ex-journalist and East Africa coordinator of the Seafarers Assistance Programme is facing charges for 'spreading false information' after he contradicted the official version put out by the Kenyan government about the destination of Ukranian cargo ship, the Fania, seized by pirates off the Somali coast en route to Mombasa...

SENEGAL: Minister sues jailed newspaper editor for defamation
Date:03/10/2008 El Malick Seck, editor-in-chief of 24 Heures Chrono, is to appear in court on defamation charges brought against him by Senegal's Minister of Interior, Sheikh Tidiane Sy...

Zimbabwe's Attorney-General makes efforts to develop ICT Bill
Date:03/10/2008 The Attorney-Generals Office in Zimbabwe is circulating a questionnaire as part of an effort to develop a national Information and Communication Technologies Bill, according to a MISA-Zimbabwe statement released on Wednesday...