Africa

  
Pagan Amum, secretary-general of South Sudan's ruling party, was awarded defamation damages from two newspapers who reported on a corruption case. (CPJ)

Corruption a no-go zone for South Sudan’s journalists

Last week, South Sudan’s ruling party secretary-general, Pagan Amum, won an important court battle, absolving him of allegations that he received a $30 million corrupt payment in 2006. The accusations came from former Finance Minister Arthur Akuien Chol, who alleged earlier this year that he had received orders from “above” to transfer the public money,…

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Mali junta leader Captain Amadou Sanogo, center, poses surrounded by fellow soldiers in Bamako Thursday. (AFP/Habibou Kouyate)

With coup, quiet #Mali generates noise on Twitter

Yesterday, while reporting on breaking news in Mali from studios in Atlanta, CNN Wire Newsdesk Editor Faith Karimi made an ominous observation that presaged the outcome of developments unfolding 5,000 miles away. “#Mali president @PresidenceMali has not tweeted in 10 hours after reports of gunfire and a coup attempt,” she tweeted.

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Hassan Mohamed in 2011 (CPJ)

Exiled Somali journalist Hassan Mohamed dies in Nairobi

Veteran Somali radio journalist Hassan Mohamed, 45, died early yesterday morning in Eastleigh, a Nairobi suburb. He had fled Mogadishu in 2010, having been threatened, kidnapped, and shot twice. One of hundreds of Somali refugees in Kenya, many of them journalists, Hassan struggled to support himself and survive worsening diabetes-related ailments, despite relentless support from…

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Police officers indicted for the murder of prominent human rights figure Floribert Chebeya attend their trial. (AFP)

Belgian journalist Thierry Michel takes on impunity in DRC

Who killed Floribert Chebeya, the president of the leading DRC human rights group La Voix des Sans Voix, and his driver, Fidèle Bazana, in June 2010 in Kinshasa? A few runaway police officers, according to the military tribunal that judged the case and issued its sentences one year later. A few bad apples, who acted on…

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Lalla Cissokho (Courtesy of Cissokho)

Who knew? Senegalese arrest, prosecution can be swift

Last week, a judge in Senegal convicted a man of assaulting three journalists outside their newspaper’s office in the capital Dakar last month. The attack was not related to journalism, but the quick arrest and prosecution of the perpetrator serves as an instructive contrast between the handling of an ordinary crime and the handling of…

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The government of Malawian President Bingu Wa Mutharika, pictured, has threatened journalists with fines and arrests for disrespecting him. (AFP/Alexander Joe)

A bad weekend for Malawian journalists

No media outlet critical of President Bingu Wa Mutharika or the ruling Democratic Progressive Party was spared by the government this past weekend — whether print, broadcast, or online. The broadside included a public campaign to discredit the media as well as threats of fines and arrests of critical journalists.

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Lamu town on Lamu island, which will be home to a major port project. (Lamu Studios)

The hazards of reporting all sides of the Lamu port story

Freelance photographer Abdalla Bargash had accompanied Kenya’s permanent secretary for transport, Cyrus Njiru, to cover a meeting with Lamu community members over the newly constructed Lamu port. The Kililana Farmers’ Association are concerned that the major construction on the once-sleepy island of Lamu off Kenya’s coast could encroach on their farmland. 

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Gasasira in exile. (Gasasira)

Rwandan exiled journalist comes out of hiding

I must have received at least a dozen communications from worried friends and colleagues, asking the whereabouts of the chief editor of the highly critical Rwandan website, Umuvugizi. By mid-January, no one had heard from John Bosco Gasasira, nothing new had been published on Umuvugizi since January 11, and his cell phones were switched off.…

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Mading Ngor says his ejection from parliament is receiving unwarranted attention given the number of journalist assaults in South Sudan. (AP)

Attack on South Sudan reporter sparks critical debate

February is the hottest month in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, and Mading Ngor, a reporter and presenter for the Catholic-owned Bakhita FM, trudged his way through the heat to cover parliament proceedings last week–only to be thrown unceremoniously out of the assembly. “Before I had time to argue, four security guards pinned me…

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Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has reportedly asked for U.N. assistance to investigate the case of a missing journalist. (AFP/Seyllou)

For Gambia’s press, positive developments?

Good news for Gambia’s beleaguered independent press has been rare during President Yahya Jammeh’s 17-year rule, but last week brought three potentially positive developments. It’s unclear whether they mark a real change in the status quo, but they may at least increase the resolve of advocacy groups to seek improvements.

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