Africa

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today urged its member unions worldwide to express their solidarity with the journalists locked out by The Guardian management in Nigeria. The 800 journalists and other workers took strike action on November 6 after negotiation with The Guardian management over a pay rise and better working conditions broke down. The Guardian online and print...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called for the release of L’enquêteur editor Ibrahim Souley and owner Soumana Maïga who were arrested in Niger after the Minister of Economy and Finance filed a libel complaint against the newspaper. “The press freedom violations in Niger are catastrophic. Four of our colleagues have been arrested on charges stemming from their work,” said...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has urged Somaliland authorities to withdraw their decision to expel 24 Somali journalists who fled the violence in Mogadishu over allegations that they are endangering the "security and stability” of the region. “Before this incident Somaliland has had a reputation as a place that would offer safety to journalists who are harassed and threatened...

All four journalists arrested recently have been released by the Senegal government in a bid to “defuse relations" between the press and the government, but the storm has far from blown over. All four were released Thursday. Besides the four arrested journalists, who were all held in detention, a fifth has been facing defamation charges after he published a book that accused employees of

Two French photojournalists have been formally charged in the eastern Chadian city of Abéché with “kidnapping minors” and “fraud” along with members of Arche de Zoé (Zoé’s Ark), the French charity whose activities they were covering. The two journalists are Marc Garmirian of the Capa news agency and Jean-Daniel Guillou of the Synchro X agency. Another French journalist, Marie-Agnès

He was an uncompromising journalist, he demanded press freedom in an east African country, and he was imprisoned for six years without any trial. Till today, Dawit Isaak awaits his fate in one of the 314 prison centres scattered throughout Eritrea. An Eritrean with Swedish citizenship, Isaak was arrested in September 2001 in Asmara along with 10 other journalists, including newspaper owners and

HARARE, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe named a new board on Tuesday to consider an application to reopen the country's largest private newspaper, four years after it was banned. The government said it was replacing a commission which had rejected a licence application for Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe's (ANZ) Daily News and Daily News on Sunday, which have been critical of President Robert Mugabe...

The Somalian government’s systematic harassment of journalists, its closures of media outlets, and its failure to investigate the killing of eight journalists have deeply damaged independent reporting in Somalia. On October 19, two unknown gunmen shot at close range Bashir Nur Gedi, the acting manager of Shabelle Media radio, outside a cafe in Mogadishu. He was returning home in the Hamar Jadid

The Niger government is taking major repressive steps to stifle news and commentary on the rebellion of nomadic Tuaregs in northern Niger. Live debates and discussions on the issue have been banned along with Radio France Internationale (RFI) and Aïr Info slapped with suspension. Warnings to Liberation, L’Opinion, and L’Evenement have been issued on the same grounds. The bimonthly Aïr Info

Two newsmen, Befekadu Moreda from Ethiopia and Paulos Kidane from Eritrea, both tried to flee the region to escape government oppression. But "one life (was) saved and the other lost." In a special report, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) recounts their stories and provides a glimpse into the adversity facing journalists in the volatile Horn of Africa. In his native Ethiopia, Moreda was