Intimidation & Harassment

Cameroonian journalist detained on criminal defamation and false news charges

Abidjan, June 20, 2019 -- Cameroonian authorities should immediately release journalist Paul Chouta and drop criminal defamation and false news charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On May 28, in the Cameroonian capital of Yaounde, five police officers arrested Chouta, who works as a reporter for the privately owned Cameroon Web news website, in response to a defamation complaint filed by French Cameroonian writer Calixthe Beyala, according to Cameroon Web editor-in-chief Emmanuel Vitus, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app, and a person with knowledge of the case who asked not to be…Read more

Kenyan media group trolled by pro-ruling party activists

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns a social media campaign designed to smear and intimidate Kenya’s leading independent, privately-owned media group, Nation Media Group (NMG), and calls on the authorities to identify and sanction those responsible. Thousands of messages with the #NationMediaGarbage hashtag began circulating on Twitter on 6 June to the point that by the next day it was one of Kenya’s ten most shared hashtags. The blitz was launched by a group of activists who make no secret of their support for President Uhuru Kenyatta. According to NMG’s Daily Nation newspaper, around a dozen people are behind…Read more

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
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
Ugandan regulator orders news website suspended and threatens criminal charges

Ugandan regulator orders news website suspended and threatens criminal charges

Ugandan authorities should withdraw a directive ordering the suspension of the Daily Monitor news website, retract a threat of criminal proceedings against the publication, and refrain from using regulations to retaliate against journalists covering sensitive political issues, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On February 6, the Uganda Communications Commission, a broadcasting and telecommunications sector regulator, wrote a letter to the Daily Monitor's parent company, Monitor Publications Limited, ordering the company to immediately suspend publication of its news website, according to a copy of the letter seen by CPJ. The letter said that the Monitor had not…Read more
Uganda: BBC journalists ‘facing trumped up charges’

Uganda: BBC journalists ‘facing trumped up charges’

Human Rights Network for Journalists Uganda On 8 February 2019, police in Kampala released three British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) journalists, their driver and a wife to NBS's senior investigative journalist Solomon Serwanjja after spending two nights in police custody. They were released on police bond on charges of being in "unlawful possession of classified government drugs".  The journalists are; Kassim Mohammed, Rashid Kaweesa, Godfery Badebye of BBC, their driver Shafik who were arrested on Wednesday night and Vivian Nakaliika Serwanjja - Serwanjja's wife.  Meanwhile, Solomon Serwanjja also arrived at the Central Police Station…Read more

Mozambican journalist held for reporting on terrorist insurgencies

This statement was originally published on cpj.org on 9 January 2019. Mozambique's military should immediately release Amade Abubacar, a community radio journalist for the state-owned Rádio e Televisao Comunitária Nacedje de Macomia in northern Cabo Delgado province, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police arrested Abubacar at a bus station in Macomia on January 5 while he was photographing families who have fled militant attacks in the coastal province, according to an emailed newsletter on January 7 by the independent Zitamar News, for which Abucar is also a correspondent. Authorities are holding…Read more

Pakistan: State persecution of media and self-censorship in 2018

pakistanpressfoundation.org  From a special coercive law to blatant censorship, the Pakistani media has witnessed many forms of oppression in its 71 years of struggle-filled existence. But in 2018 the media endured an unprecedented level of imposed "self-censorship" through tactics unbecoming of a responsible state. Those who refuse to fall in line suffer loss of readership and viewership. Unjustified cover-ups and the suppression of truth regarding crucial questions of public accountability have seriously affected the perception of the quality of democracy in Pakistan. 2018 was a year of elections. Overt and covert pressures on…Read more

Media sector concerned by South African politician’s threats against journalist

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) deplores South African opposition politician Julius Malema's use of threats and insults against journalists and media outlets covering his party's alleged involvement in an embezzlement scandal, and calls on the authorities to condemn his attempts to intimidate the press. The leader of Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), South Africa's second-largest opposition party, Malema has stepped up his threats and invectives in recent weeks. Naming five journalists on 20 November, he urged his supporters to "deal with them decisively" while adding to "never be violent with them." The five journalists named…Read more

Ugandan Unity FM radio station raided, taken off air and journalists arrested

Human Rights Network for Journalists - Uganda Unity FM radio based in Lira remains shut down since 17 November, 2018 when the Lira District Police Commander (DPC) Joel Tubanone stormed the radio station with heavily armed police personnel and military officers, switched off the radio and picked six staff on allegations of inciting violence. On 17 November 2018, at around 3:20 P.M, police arrested six (6) Unity FM journalists and two other clients who were found at the station for business. The arrest was allegedly on the orders of the Resident District Commissioner…Read more