Gendarmerie officers stand guard on March 24, 2019, in Moroni, Comoros. Two journalists have been detained without trial in the country since February. (Gianluigi Guercia/AFP)

By Editor, CPJ
NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 26 2019 (IPS-Partners)

(CPJ) – Authorities in the Comoros should immediately release journalists Abdallah Abdou Hassane and Oubeidillah Mchangama, who have been held in pretrial detention on an array of charges for over a month, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

The journalists, who report for the Facebook news page FCBK FM, were arrested in mid-February and are detained in a prison in the Comoros capital, Moroni, while awaiting trial, according to their lawyer, Abdoulbastoi Moudjahid, who spoke with CPJ.

On February 12, the journalists were charged with defamation, disturbing public order, incitement to violence, offence against the head of state, insulting the magistrate, forgery, and use of false materials, according to their lawyer and FCBK FM; they have both pled not guilty.

While in detention, both journalists have been questioned multiple times about their FCBK FM posts, Abdoulbastoi told CPJ. The lawyer did not elaborate on any individual posts that the journalists have been asked about.

According to FCBK FM and Abdoulbastoi, the journalists frequently criticized the government in their posts and Facebook Live broadcasts, including making at least one call for President Azali Assoumani to resign.

The country held its presidential election on March 24 and has not yet released the results, according to media reports; the opposition alleges that the polls were rigged to secure Azali’s reelection.

“That these two journalists have been held in pre-trial detention so long suggests that this case is little more than a pretext to silence critical voices during an election period,” said CPJ’s Sub-Saharan Africa representative, Muthoki Mumo. “Authorities should free Abdallah Abdou Hassane and Oubeidillah Mchangama and drop the charges against them.”

Abdallah was arrested on February 9 at the supreme court in Moroni, where he had gone to report on a court decision that barred several opposition politicians from running in the presidential elections, according to Abdoulbastoi and FCBK FM.

Oubeidillah was arrested on the morning of February 11 at the entrance of the Moroni court where he was investigating Abdallah’s arrest, according to Abdoulbastoi.

CPJ reached out to FCBK FM via its Facebook page and did not receive a response.

Abdoulbastoi appealed the charges against the journalists on February 25 on the grounds that the original order for their detention was unlawful, but the presiding judge dismissed his case as “unfounded,” the lawyer told CPJ.

Protests have been staged in Moroni calling for the journalists’ release, according to news reports by French news agency RFI. The agency reported that the organizers of the protests feared that the journalists might be detained until after the presidential inauguration in May.

CPJ tried to reach Comorian Interior Minister Mohamed Daoudou via multiple calls and text messages but did not receive a response. Emails from CPJ to the ministry of foreign affairs and to the Comorian mission at the United Nations went unanswered.

A man walks down a street in central Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, on November 12, 2014. Prime TV, an independent station in Zambia, was recently suspended by the country's media regulator. Credit: Gianluigi Guercia/AFP

By Editor, CPJ
CAPE TOWN, Mar 22 2019 (IPS-Partners)

(CPJ) – Zambia’s minister of information and broadcasting should grant an appeal requested by the privately owned Prime TV broadcaster and allow the station back on air after the country’s media regulator suspended its license for 30 days for alleged unprofessionalism, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

The Independent Broadcasting Authority, the government agency that oversees the country’s media, suspended Prime TV’s license from March 4 to April 2 for allegedly featuring “unbalanced coverage, opinionated news, material likely to incite violence and use of derogatory language,” particularly in its reporting on recent by-elections in Shesheke district, according to a statement from the authority. Prime TV was ordered to conduct in-house trainings on media ethics during its suspension, according to the statement.

The authority’s ruling came in response to a complaint lodged by the ruling Patriotic Front party, according to the African press freedom group AFEX.

On March 5, Prime TV filed an appeal with Information and Broadcasting Minister Dora Siliya, the station’s director, Gerald Shawa, told CPJ. Shawa told CPJ on March 18 that he had not yet received a response to his request.

“The Independent Broadcasting Authority should not suspend news organizations simply because they report critically and disagree with the ruling political party,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal. “The minister of information and broadcasting must do the right thing and uphold Prime TV’s appeal so that it is able to broadcast immediately.”

The suspension came amid increased tensions between Prime TV and the Patriotic Front. The broadcaster’s offices were raided by police in November 2018, after it aired footage that authorities alleged was defamatory to the president, according to the Media Institute of Southern Africa, a regional press freedom group.

In late January, the party’s secretary-general, Davies Mwila, announced that Prime TV journalists were barred from covering any Patriotic Front activities, according to AFEX.

On February 13, the party’s deputy media director, Antonio Mwanza, said the broadcaster “must be closed down,” and said the Independent Broadcasting Authority had been “directed to revoke [Prime TV’s] license,” AFEX reported.

CPJ’s phone calls to the offices of Mwila and Mwanza, and emails to Mwila, did not receive a response.

In the appeal letter, seen by CPJ, Shawa asked the minister to reduce the penalty to a warning. Prime TV was previously reprimanded by authorities in April 2018, but was able to continue broadcasting, according to the Independent Broadcasting Authority statement.

CPJ’s phone calls to Siliya went unanswered. The Independent Broadcasting Authority’s director-general and board secretary, Josephine Mapoma, did not answer calls or respond to CPJ’s messages on Whatsapp.

Chando Kasolo, the Independent Broadcasting Authority board chair and permanent secretary for information and broadcasting services, told CPJ via WhatsApp, “the ban stays unless and until revoked by the minister [Siliya].”

He added that CPJ should “keep out of this as foreign ‘interference’ is not viewed kindly here.”

Kasolo was quoted by independent news website Zambia Reports as saying there was no political interference in the decision to suspend Prime TV, and that he would have resigned if that were the case.

According to the Independent Broadcasting Authority statement, the authority also suspended Valley FM Radio of Nyimba for 60 days for “unprofessional conduct” and revoked the licenses of two other radio broadcasters due to nonpayment of licensing fees. The authority also granted 22 new radio broadcast licenses on March 4, according to the statement.

Journalists have been jailed and harassed in Zambia over recent years, and numerous media organizations suspended by national authorities, according to CPJ’s reporting.

Art: Jack Forbes

By Editor, CPJ
Mar 4 2019 (IPS-Partners)

South Africa, one of the media freedom beacons in sub-Saharan Africa, will hold national and provincial elections on May 8. As the country celebrates 25 years of democracy, the press in South Africa faces old and new challenges, including physical harassment and cyber bullying. The press freedom environment, including the safety of journalists, will be one of the key indicators for the health of the country’s democracy and the freeness and fairness of its polls.

CPJ’s Emergencies Response Team (ERT) has compiled a Safety Kit for journalists covering South Africa’s election. The kit contains information for editors, reporters, and photojournalists on how to prepare for the election and how to mitigate digital, physical and psychological risk.

Journalists requiring assistance can contact CPJ via emergencies@cpj.org.

CPJ’s Journalist Security Guide has additional information on basic preparedness and assessing and responding to risk. CPJ’s resource center has additional information and tools for pre-assignment preparation and post-incident assistance.

Menu:
Editor’s Safety Checklist
Physical Safety: Covering rallies and protests
Physical Safety: Covering hostile communities
Physical Safety: Covering crime
Digital Safety: Basic device preparedness
Digital Safety: Identifying bots
Digital Safety: Online harassment
Digital Safety: Securing and storing materials
Psychological Safety: Managing trauma in the newsroom
Psychological Safety: Trauma-related stress

An electoral worker prepares identity card and biometric verification readers, at the offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Kano, northern Nigeria, on February 14, 2019. CPJ joined a call for Nigeria to ensure that internet and social media services remain connected during the upcoming elections. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

By Editor, CPJ
Feb 14 2019 (IPS-Partners)

(CPJ) – The Committee to Protect Journalists joined more than 15 rights organizations and the #KeepItOn Coalition to call for Nigerian authorities to ensure that internet and social media services remain connected during upcoming elections, and safeguard internet speeds of websites and messaging applications. In early February, Nigeria’s federal government denied rumors of plans to shut down the internet during upcoming elections, according to the privately owned Guardian Nigeria and Quartz news outlets. Nigeria has two sets of elections scheduled in the coming weeks: federal elections on February 16 and state elections on March 2.

The letter, addressed to Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice chairman and chief executive officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission, emphasized how internet disruptions inhibit journalists’ ability to safely conduct reporting and run contrary to international law. It also highlighted additional social and economic costs of internet outages.

“The media is critical to this particular election and critical to people understanding both the [election’s] processes and procedures,” Festus Okoye, national commissioner of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission, told CPJ on February 13. Okoye also emphasized the importance of internet connectivity because the smart card readers used for voter identification are based on the internet. “Three networks–Glo, MTN, and Airtel–are powering them [the smart card readers], so if you jam the network there won’t be any election…that’s just the bottom line.” he said.

Read the full letter here.

Maria Ressa--founder, CEO, and executive editor of the Rappler news website--giving her acceptance speech at CPJ's 2018 International Press Freedom Awards on November 20, 2018. (Getty Images/Dia Dipasupil)

By Editor, CPJ
Feb 14 2019 (IPS-Partners)

(CPJ) – The Philippine government’s legal harassment of the news website Rappler and Maria Ressa, its founder and executive editor, took an alarming turn Wednesday when officers from the National Bureau of Investigation arrested Ressa at Rappler’s bureau in Manila and held her overnight over a cyber libel case filed against her by the Justice Department. Ressa’s arrest was in connection to a story published by Rappler in 2012, before the law was enacted. Ressa told CPJ before her arrest that the charge was “political” and that the Philippines has “weaponized” its cybercrime law. Ressa was released on bail on Thursday morning. CPJ’s Asia Program Coordinator Steven Butler explored the implications of Ressa’s arrest for press freedom in an op-ed for CNN.

Apart from the cyber-libel charges, Ressa and Rappler face five tax cases. In December, CPJ and First Look Media announced a campaign to provide legal support for journalists, and the first recipients were Ressa and Rappler. CPJ’s board also passed a resolution Wednesday condemning the arrest.

A woman casts her ballot in general elections at a polling station in the village of Nyakosoba, Lesotho, on June 3, 2017. Lesotho's Constitutional Court declared criminal defamation unconstitutional on May 21, 2018. (Gianluigi Guercia/AFP)

By Editor, CPJ
NEW YORK, May 22 2018 (CPJ)

The Committee to Protect Journalists today welcomed yesterday’s ruling by Lesotho’s Constitutional Court that criminal defamation is unconstitutional, calling it a significant step toward safeguarding press freedom in the country.

The Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) supported an application by Lesotho Times owner and publisher Basildon Peta to have Section 104 of the penal code declared unconstitutional, the center said in a statement yesterday. Peta had been charged with criminal defamation on July 6, 2016, according to CPJ research.

“Journalists should never face criminal charges for doing their job and yesterday’s ruling by Lesotho’s Constitutional Court is the latest victory in the fight to abolish criminal defamation throughout the African continent,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal. “Criminal defamation is too often used to target critical journalists and we welcome Lesotho joining a growing group of countries that have found that criminal defamation is incompatible with constitutional guarantees for a free press.”

In Peta’s application before the court, he argued that the offense of criminal defamation violated the right to freedom of expression. He further argued that the use of criminal sanctions was a disproportionate response to protect individuals’ reputations because, among other reasons, a less-restrictive mechanism–civil defamation–was available, the SALC said.

The court agreed, and declared criminal defamation unconstitutional with retrospective effect, the SALC said. The three judges held that criminalizing defamation had a chilling effect of journalistic freedom of expression, resulting in self-censorship by journalists and a less-informed public.

The ruling was in keeping with a 2010 resolution from the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights calling on member states to repeal criminal libel laws, referring to them as “a serious interference with freedom of expression.” African countries where criminal defamation has been ruled unconstitutional since 2010 include Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Gambia.

This story was originally published by CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists