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Zimbabwe journalist arrested for third time in six months

Zimbabwe journalist arrested for third time in six months

ZIMBABWEAN journalist and government critic Hopewell Chin'ono was arrested yesterday on charges of communicating false information, his third arrest inside six months, his lawyer said. Chin'ono, who has a large social media following, has been critical of President Emmerson Mnangagwa's rule, accusing his government of corruption and mismanagement. His comments have been unusually outspoken for a journalist in Zimbabwe, where critics are often dealt with harshly. The United States embassy in Harare said it was concerned for Chin'ono's welfare. Police spokesman Andrew Phiri said he could not comment on Chin'ono's latest arrest, which the journalist himself tweeted about, saying: "The…
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Record number of journalists imprisoned in 2020 – report

Record number of journalists imprisoned in 2020 – report

A record number of journalists were imprisoned during 2020, as governments cracked down on coverage of the coronavirus pandemic or tried to suppress reporting of civil unrest, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has announced. At least 274 journalists were in jail as of December 1, the most since the New York-based group began collecting data in the early 1990s, the report said, up from at least 250 last year. Protests and political tensions were the cause of many arrests, with the most made in China, Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, it said. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, authoritarian leaders tried…
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How COVID-19 has worsened attacks against journalists in Kenya

How COVID-19 has worsened attacks against journalists in Kenya

ALMOST a decade after the United Nations set aside November 2 as a day to reflect on ending impunity for crimes against journalists, crimes against media workers in Kenya are still widespread. The coverage of elections and corruption cases has typically prompted these attacks. But now the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed more of the state’s intolerance towards journalists in their line of duty. JOHN NDAVULA, Head of Department, Communication Studies, St Paul's University Kenya confirmed its first case of COVID-19 in mid-March 2020. By the end of the month, the government had imposed a curfew to stem infections. Soon afterwards,…
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