Attacks on the Media

Journalists assaulted, news vehicle burned at Kenyan high school

Kenyan authorities should thoroughly investigate the attack on a Kenya Television Network news team at a Machakos county high school and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 3, a group of students at St. Steven's Girls High School, a boarding school in Machakos county, and their principal attacked a team of journalists with the privately owned Kenya Television Network, according to news reports and two journalists from the network, who spoke with CPJ. Students kicked, punched, and threw stones at reporter Carolyne Bii, driver Immaculate Joseph, and cameraman…Read more

Police raid Australian Broadcasting Corporation headquarters, seize documents over Afghanistan reports

The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns the Australian Federal Police raid on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation headquarters in Sydney today and called on authorities to immediately return any documents or other property seized. In a statement, police said the raid was related to an investigation into the publication of classified material, and was not related to yesterday's raid of Sunday Telegrapheditor Annika Smethurst's home in Canberra. "The raids on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation newsroom and the home of reporter Annika Smethurst are deeply troubling and directly threaten Australia's standing as a country that respects press freedom,"…Read more

Alarming resurgence in Sri Lankan police attacks on Tamil journalists

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Sri Lankan authorities to punish those responsible for recent acts of violence and harassment of journalists and to ensure that the police stop harassing and intimidating reporters covering the problems that the Tamil minority still endure ten years after the end of the civil war. The 27 May violence against Kanapathipillai Kumanan, a journalist working for the Tamil daily Virakesari, was the third reported attack on a journalist of Tamil origin since the start of the year. Kumanan was working on a story about a Hindu temple in the…Read more

Indian journalist Pratap Patra attacked over sand mining investigation

Indian authorities should swiftly investigate the attack on journalist Pratap Patra and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On May 30, in Odisha state, six unidentified individuals wielding a machete and other sharp objects attacked Patra, a reporter with local news daily Samaja, cutting his head, chest, and hands, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ. He was taken to a local hospital following the attack and released on June 3, according to those reports. Patra told CPJ that he believes he was targeted because of an…Read more

Verbal and physical onslaught against private TV station by Zambia’s ruling party

The African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX) firmly condemns the recent attacks by affiliates of Zambia's ruling, Patriotic Front (PF) party against Prime Televisionbased in the capital, Lusaka.  The privately owned TV station has come under attack following its reportage on the Sesheke parliamentary by-elections.  On January 26, 2019, the Secretary General of the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) party, Davies Mwila, dismissed Prime TV reporters from a press briefing he was addressing. He also declared publicly that Prime Television is barred from covering all activities of his political party. The comments by the Secretary General of PF has…Read more
IPC Nigeria condemns attacks on journalists during elections

IPC Nigeria condemns attacks on journalists during elections

The International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos has expressed strong concern over reported incidents of attacks on journalists and other media professionals during the Presidential and Senatorial elections held on Saturday February 23, 2019. Information gathered by IPC's media and election situation room revealed that not less than five journalists and media professionals faced one form of harassment or the other including arrest, denial of access to collation centres and gunshot injury. The details of these incidents include, the arrest of Nwanosike Onu of The Nation, Geoffrey Anyanwu of the Sun, David-Chyddy Eleke of THISDAY, Vincent Ujumadu of Vanguard and Tony…Read more

Investigative journalist Ahmed Divela shot dead in Ghana

Authorities in Ghana should immediately investigate the killing of journalist Ahmed Hussein-Suale Divela and ensure that threats against the press are taken seriously, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Two men riding a motorcycle shot and killed Divela, a member of Tiger Eye Private Investigations, an investigative journalism outlet led by Anas Aremeyaw Anas, as he was driving in the capital, Accra, yesterday, according to media reports and a video posted on Twitter by Anas. The journalist had told CPJ in September 2018 that people had attempted to attack him and that he feared for his life…Read more
Cameroonian journalist Paul Chouta attacked outside his home

Cameroonian journalist Paul Chouta attacked outside his home

Cameroonian authorities should immediately investigate an attack on Paul Chouta, a reporter for the privately owned news website Cameroon Web, and ensure that those who assaulted him are swiftly brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Chouta told CPJ yesterday that three unknown men stabbed him with a knife and beat him as he left his Yaoundé home just after 6 a.m. that day. The journalist was treated for stab wounds to his right hand and elbow and bruises to his face. "They didn't say anything as they started to physically attack…Read more

Cameroonian journalists arrested for covering opposition gathering

Authorities in Cameroon should immediately release journalists Théodore Tchopa and David Eyengue Nzima, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The two journalists, from privately owned daily newspaper Le Jour, were arrested yesterday while covering an opposition gathering in Douala, Denis Nkwebo, their deputy editor in chief and the president of the Cameroonian journalists' trade union, told CPJ. Their arrest was also reported by local outlets and journalists on social media.  The journalists were detained at a house where opposition leader Maurice Kamto, who claims to have won the 2018 presidential election, and opposition activists were also arrested,…Read more

Three journalists shot while covering political party rally in Lagos

This statement was originally published on mfwa.org on 9 January 2019. The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) condemns the shooting of three journalists in Nigeria at a political party rally in Ikeja, Lagos, and calls for thorough investigations and justice for the victims. The three, Emmanuel Oladesu, group political editor of The Nation newspaper, Temitope Ogunbanke, a correspondent of News Telegraph and Abiodun Yusuf, a cameraman of Ibile Television, were shot while covering a rally organised to market Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the governorship of Lagos State,…Read more