Media reform stagnates in Zambia
On September 27, the High Court in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, granted acting President Rupiah Banda an injunction restraining The Post newspaper from publishing libelous words against him. Zambia’s Sunday Times reported that the court had also given a penal notice to Editor-in-Chief Fred M’membe to comply with the order. M’membe refused and appealed to the…
Q & A: Andrew Berends and Aaron Soffin
CPJ interviewed documentary filmmaker Andrew Berends and producer Aaron Soffin at CPJ’s headquarters in New York. Berends spent 10 days in the custody of Nigeria’s State Security Services in Port Harcourt, from August 31 to September 9. He had been in the country for six months working on his film “Delta Boys.” Soffin worked to get…
Press Freedom Awardees draw attention
We announced the 2008 International Press Freedom Award recipients on Tuesday, and the news has been well-received worldwide. Bilal Hussein of Iraq, Danish Karokhel and Farida Nekzad of Afghanistan, Andrew Mwenda of Uganda, and Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez of Cuba will all be honored by CPJ on November 25 for their courageous work. Beatrice Mtetewa, of Zimbabwe will…
Goats released from prison in Congo
The BBC reported this week that a minister in the Democratic Republic of Congo has ordered a jail in the capital, Kinshasa, to release a dozen goats, saying the animals were being held there illegally. According to the story: “The minister said many police had serious gaps in their knowledge and they would be sent…
Clinton seeks release of American in Nigeria
On the heels of a similar letter sent by Sen Charles Schumer (D-NY) yesterday, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has sent one today to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about journalist Andrew Berends, who is being held by Nigerian authorities. The letter does not mention Samuel George, Berends’ translator, but George is also in police…
Schumer pushes for release of journalist in Nigeria
Freelance American journalist Andrew Berends and his translator, Nigerian Samuel George have been in the custody of Nigerian State Security Services in Port Harcourt since they were arrested on August 31. Berends, an award-winning filmmaker, legally entered Nigeria in April to complete a documentary called “Delta Boys” about the region’s oil conflict. Sen. Charles Schumer…
CPJ site blocked in Ethiopia
Reliable sources in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa have informed CPJ this week that our site was inaccessible on the servers of the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation, the country’s official Internet service provider. A handful of separate Internet users in the country have independently confirmed seeing “The page cannot be displayed” messages when attempting to…
Day 7: Freelancers hostage in Somalia
Today marks the seventh day that four media workers have been held hostage by an unknown group roughly 12 miles (20 kilometers) west of Mogadishu. Freelance journalists Amanda Lindhout, Nigel Brennan, and Abdifatah Mohamed Elmi, along with driver Mahad Clise, were returning from interviews with Somali refugees at Celasha Biyaha when they were kidnapped along…
Q & A: An Ethiopian speaks from exile
Feleke Tibebu, deputy editor of private Ethiopian newspaper Hadar, was arrested in a 2005 government-led crackdown on dissidents and the private media. Tibebu (right) and 13 other journalists were charged with “outrages against the constitution or constitutional order,” “impairment of the defensive power of the state,” and “attempted genocide,” after the publication of editorials critical…
Senegal attacks prompt worry, speculation
In the Senegalese capital, Dakar, speculation surrounded Air Transport Minister Farba Senghor after unidentified men using a government vehicle ransacked the newsrooms of 24 Heures Chrono and L’As, two independent newspapers. The attacks came just three days after Senghor threatened unspecified retaliation against the papers over critical stories. CPJ issued an alert on Tuesday, calling…