Africa

An online columnist known for criticising the government and alleging high-level corruption was buried in the Republic of Congo on Friday following his death in a military hospital on Monday, the Committee to Protest Journalists (CPJ) has reported quoting local journalists. Bruno Ossébi was badly burnt in a late-night fire at his residence on January 21, although he was said to be recovering and...

The director of HornAfrik, one of Somalia's leading radio and television stations, was killed by three masked gunmen in the Bakara Market area of Mogadishu on Tuesday afternoon, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. The assailants shot Said Tahlil repeatedly as he and six other senior journalists were walking to a meeting with members of the militant Al-Shabaab group. "We send...

Reporter Francis Nyaruri was found decapitated and with his hands bound on Thursday in a forest in western Kenya, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. Nyaruri, who wrote for the private Weekly Citizen under the pen name Mong'are Mokua, had been missing since January 15, according to local journalists and relatives. Nyanza deputy police Chief Larry Kieng confirmed to reporters...

Angry opposition supporters burned down two pro-government television stations in the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar on Monday, a few hours after authorities destroyed the antenna of an opposition radio station, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported quoting news reports and local journalists. The violence highlighted escalating political tensions between Malagasy President...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has expressed dismay at Equatorial Guinea deputy information minister Purita Opo Barila’s arbitrary decision, announced on January 19, to dismiss four journalists from state radio and TV broadcaster RTVGE for “insubordination” and “lack of enthusiasm.” “Equatorial Guinea is one of those African countries about which nothing or almost nothing is known because the...

The editor of an independent newspaper in the West African nation of Niger was jailed Monday in connection with an investigative story alleging corruption in the finance ministry, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported quoting local journalists. Boussada Ben Ali, managing editor of the weekly L'Action, was jailed at Niamey's main prison after a public prosecutor...

The investigation into the murder of Paul Abayomi Ogundeji, journalist on the privately-owned daily Thisday, and member of its editorial committee, has been handed to the judicial police, regional authorities in Lagos State said on January 20, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. The journalist was shot dead in the Dopemu district of the capital Lagos on August 17, 2008 as he was...

The Malawi High Court has declared that the decision by the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) to revoke Joy Radio's license was unconstitutional, ultra vires and unreasonable, effectively dismissing all cases that MACRA had brought against the private radio station. According to this ruling, it means there is no case between Joy Radio and MACRA, the Media Institute of Southern...

Zimbabwe's Retrenchment Board has ruled against the state-owned Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings' (ZBH) bid to retrench six of its journalists who were suspended in June 2008 on allegations of "acting in a manner inconsistent with the fulfillment of the implied conditions" of their contracts, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) has reported. Monica Gavela, Patrice Makova, Garikai Chaunza...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has voiced its concern after armed men burst into the apartment block of Janet Mba, editor of the magazine The Scroll in Arepo in Ogun State in south-western Nigeria. She escaped attack because she managed to call the police before they could strike. The worldwide press freedom organisation recorded at least 10 cases of physical assaults and eight cases of threats...