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

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

Nigerian army’s raid on “Daily Trust” offices condemned

The International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos-Nigeria, condemns in strong terms, the forceful closure of Daily Trust Newspapers' head office in Abuja and the organisation's Maiduguri office by military personnel on Sunday January 6, 2019. A senior editorial staff of the organisation confirmed the military onslaught on the media establishment stating that staff had been ordered out of the premises, laptops and computers seized and operations halted. No reason, he said, was given for the action. IPC considers this development as a fresh threat to freedom of the press as well as the freedom…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

Journalist arrested, others beaten during Bangladesh elections

The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Bangladeshi authorities to immediately release Hedait Hossain Molla, a reporter who was arrested in Khulna yesterday in relation to his election coverage, according to news reports. A court today ordered Molla to be held for three days pending investigation into an accusation that he violated the Digital Security Act and reported "false information" about the number of votes cast from Khulna during general elections on December 30, according to news reports. Molla works for the Dhaka Tribune, Bangla Tribune and Probaho, but reports did not…Read more

Bangladeshi election discredited by attacks on journalists, press freedom

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is appalled by the physical attacks against journalists and violations of the free flow of information in the final week of the campaign for Bangladesh's parliamentary elections on Sunday (30 December). An alarming total of 12 journalists were injured when around30 masked individuals attacked the staff of two media outlets - the newspaper Jugantorand Jamuna TV - at around 10:30 p.m. on 24 December in their hotel in the Dhaka suburb of Nawabganj where they were staying while covering the last days of the campaign. Armed with steel rods…Read more

One year after disappearance, CPJ calls for credible investigation into Tanzanian journalist Azory Gwanda’s fate

One year after freelance journalist Azory Gwanda disappeared in Tanzania, the Committee to Protect Journalists reiterated its call for a credible investigation and public accounting of his fate. Gwanda, who wrote for the privately owned Mwananchi and The Citizen newspapers, went missing on November 21, 2017. His wife, Anna Pinoni, reported seeing Gwanda leave their farm in Tanzania's Coast region with unidentified men in a white Land Cruiser, according to CPJ research. Gwanda told his wife he was taking an emergency trip, and would return the next day. He has not been seen…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

Cameroon’s leading journalist held on trumped up charges since 2016

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for the immediate release of Amadou Vamoulké, the former head of state-owned Cameroon Radio & Television (CRTV), who has been held on trumped-up embezzlement charges since July 2016 and is due to appear in court again on 4 December in a trial already postponed 14 times in a row. The prosecution is scheduled on 4 December to submit interim conclusions at the next hearing before the Special Criminal Court in Yaoundé, giving the judges an opportunity to decide whether to continue the trial. In the two years and…Read more