The editor-in-chief of Defender, a weekly Amharic newspaper, Abraham Kifle, and his manager Ermias Asfaw today claimed they were interrogated by the police following alleged accusations by a cabinet minister. [..]
New Vision photographer, Arthur Kintu, who was out on duty covering election campaigns was on 7 September 2010 assaulted and his camera destroyed, allegedly by a businessman cum politician who is also a well-known religious leader. The leader, identified as Hassan Basajjabalaba, is also said to have allegedly assaulted another journalist barely two months ago in similar circumstances. [..]
The editor-in chief of the Arabic Alwatan daily, Adil Seedahmed, is facing court charges punishable by three years in jail under the Criminal law. The criminal charges were brought against Seedahmed on 27 August 2010 by the Water Supply Authority of Sudan after he published a report alleging dangerous levels of pollution of water for domestic use in capital Khartoum. The report quoted a group of NGOs claiming a number of children had died in some sections of the city as a result of the polluted water. [..]
Two journalists have been assaulted in different incidences with one having his camera destroyed in the line of duty.Freelance journalist Stephen Dradenya Amazia was on 20 August 2010 assaulted and his camera badly damaged while covering a political rally by parliamentary seat candidate Ratib Buga, ahead of the ruling National Revolutionary Movement (NRM) party primaries in the West Nile region of Uganda. [..]
A High Court sitting in capital Kampala on Friday, 20 August 2010, dismissed a counter claim in which the government was seeking to be paid aggravated damages by the CBS Radio, according to the Monitor daily of 21 August 2010. The government had moved to court to claim damages for alleged inconveniences caused as a result of the radio’s unwarranted acts. The report in the daily said Presiding judge Vincent Zehurikize dismissed the case in which the government accused the radio of alleged breach of the Electronic Media Act. The Judge dismissed the government’s counter suit with costs. [..]
The Union of Burundi Journalists (UBJ) on Friday 20 August 2010 sent a written petition to the President of the Republic, Pierre Nkurunziza, asking him to personally intervene and free journalist John Claude Kavumbagu, who has been languishing in Mpimba central remand prison since early July this year. Kavumbagu was arrested on 17 July 2010, and the authorities have detained him since claiming the court files are not yet ready. He faces charges of sedition. [..]
The Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA) is extremely concerned about the growing cases of threats, suppression of press freedom and freedom of expression in the pretext of war against terror and national elections in the Eastern Africa region. “Governments have been using disturbing efforts to suppress press freedom and independent journalism in the name of fighting terrorism and we have every reason to suspect them for hiding behind this to curtail independent reporting,” said Omar Faruk Osman, EAJA Secretary General. [..]
The director and publisher of the weekly private Arc en Ciel (Rainbow) newspaper was on the morning of Tuesday, 10 August 2010, arrested and is still being detained at the Central prison of Mpimba in the capital Bujumbura. Thierry Ndayishimiye, accused of slander, had appeared for the third time before the alternate prosecutor in City Hall of Bujumbura for the hearing of the case. At the end of the session, he was arrested and driven directly to the prison without the knowledge of his lawyer. [..]
Sudan has lifted a pre-press censorship requirement it imposed three months ago on the media operating in the country. The Director of the country’s Security Service said there was no longer any reason to impose the rule, which has seen three journalists being charged with offences in court and the closure of two newspapers in the past three months. The responsibility, he said, will henceforth rest with the court of law, the National Press Council and the Sudanese Journalists Union (SJU) to ensure professionalism in the media in Sudan. But the SJU has welcomed the move with skepticism. [..]
The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA), have expressed deep concern about the campaign of intimidation against media by the government of Burundi and have called for charges against a leading journalist to be dropped. They are protesting that Burundian authorities have charged Jean Claude Kavumbagu, editor of Netpress news agency with “treason”, an offence that attracts life imprisonment if found guilty. [..]