Traditional authorities in Swaziland continue to harass and intimidate the media, particularly in instances when the Swazi monarchy faces criticism, according to the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). On June 14, the traditional governor, Jim Gama, who is regarded as the traditional prime minister, launched a scathing attack on the print media and threatened journalists for what he claimed...
Mohamed Nema Oumar, the publisher of the privately-owned, Arabic-language weekly Al-Houriya, was released on the evening of June 13 after being held for 30 hours in a police station in the Nouakchott district of Tevragh Zeina, according to Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). He was charged two days later with "libel and insult" and was ordered to report to the police twice a week pending trial...
Mohamed Nema Oumar, the Mauritanian publisher of the privately-owned, Arabic-language weekly Al-Houriya, was released on Friday evening after being held for 30 hours in a police station in the Nouakchott district of Tevragh Zeina, according to the Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). He was charged two days later with "libel and insult" and was ordered to report to the police twice a week...
Three Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ) employees were released Wednesday last from detention without charges being laid, according to the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). Abel Chikomo, Maureen Kademaunga and Abel Kaingidza were arrested and detained for three nights by Binga Police in Zimbabwe's Matabeleland North province before their release. The three, together with another...
Three Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ) employees were released on June 11 from detention without charges being laid. Abel Chikomo, Maureen Kademaunga and Abel Kaingidza were arrested and detained for three nights by Binga Police in Zimbabwe's Matabeleland North province before their release, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) has reported. The three, together with another 10...
Zimbabwe is going through serious political violence perpetrated by the party in power, ZANU PF. This violence is also taking place in a context of major economic challenges that the country faces where inflation is estimated to be greater than 1 million percent. There have also been food shortages, which are further exacerbated through the banning of humanitarian food distribution by NGOs by the
In yet another move that will worsen the flow of—and lack of access to—information in Zimbabwe, the government has slapped an import duty on all newspapers, magazines and periodicals coming into the country. On June 8, the state-owned Herald newspaper reported that all "foreign newspapers sold in Zimbabwe will now have to pay import duty, as the government moves to protect Zimbabwean media space"...
Nsimba Embete Ponte, editor of the privately-owned twice-weekly newspaper "L'interprète", and his assistant, Davin Ntondo Nzovuangu, were transferred June 6 from the National Intelligence Agency (ANR), on the bank of the Congo River, near the prime minister's office, to the court of Matete, in Kinshasa, according to Journaliste en danger (JED). The two journalists were held incommunicado, for 90...
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has urged the Cameroonian government to end the intimidation of journalists reporting on corruption scandals in the country after five journalists and media industry leaders were interrogated by police in connection with the publication of articles on a defective aircraft bought for President Paul Biya. "Police harassment of our colleagues is...
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has applauded a regional court’s ruling on Thursday declaring the 2006 arrest of Gambian journalist “Chief” Ebrima Manneh to be illegal and ordering his immediate release. The Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States also ordered the Gambian government to pay US$100,000 in damages to Manneh’s family, according to Funmi...
