detention - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Kenya Airways says Congo is harassing airline after its staff detained

KENYA Airways accused authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) of harassment over the continued detention of two of the airline's staff for alleged customs violations despite a court ordering their release. A senior Kenyan government official said Kenya had also objected to what he said was their arrest and detention. Officers from Congo's military intelligence detained the pair on April 19 for allegedly failing to complete customs documentation related to valuable cargo that was meant to be transported a week earlier, the airline said in a statement. The airline workers have been granted only one short visit…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

Congolese journalist denied provisional release after months in detention

NEWS

A court in the Democratic Republic of Congo has rejected an appeal for the provisional release of journalist Stanis Bujakera, who has been in detention for more than five months. Bujakera, who works for international media outlets including Reuters, was detained on Sept. 8 and later charged with spreading false information about the killing of a prominent opposition politician. He denies the charges. In its ruling on Tuesday, the court did not provide a reason for the rejection of the appeal to release him from Kinshasa Central Prison. The court had previously rejected several other appeals for his release, also…

Feb

2024

By GIULIA PARAVICINI

Ethiopian police arrest French journalist, employer says

NEWS

ETHIOPIAN police have arrested a French journalist on suspicion of "conspiracy to create chaos", his employer said. Antoine Galindo was arrested last Thursday while on assignment in the capital Addis Ababa, the Africa Intelligence publication said in a statement. It said a judge on Saturday prolonged Galindo's detention until March 1. Africa Intelligence said Galindo "has been suspected of 'conspiracy to create chaos in Ethiopia' and was brought before a judge on 24 February." The publication said its lawyer attended the hearing and was told about the charges. "Africa Intelligence condemns the unjustified arrest ... and calls for his immediate…

Feb

2024

By BASSAM MASOUD and IBRAHEEMABU MUSTAFA

Gaza doctor describes ordeal of detention

WORLD

A Palestinian doctor says Israeli forces in Gaza detained him when they overran a hospital and subjected him to abuse during 45 days of captivity including sleep deprivation and constant shackling and blindfolding before releasing him last week. Doctor Said Abdulrahman Maarouf was working at al-Ahli al-Arab Hospital in Gaza City when it was surrounded by Israeli forces in December. He described having his hands cuffed, his legs shackled and his eyes masked for the nearly seven-week duration of his imprisonment. He said he was told to sleep in places that were covered with pebbles without a mattress, pillow or…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

Detention of Russian theatre director and playwright accused of ‘justifying terrorism’ extended till March

WORLD

A Moscow court said that it had extended the detention of a prominent Russian theatre director and a playwright who had been held since last May on charges of "justifying terrorism" until March 10. Director Yevgenia (Zhenya) Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk are accused of vindicating terrorism in the award-winning play, "Finist, the Brave Falcon", which is about Russian women who married Islamic State fighters. Investigators opened the case against the two women last May over Petriychuk's play, which premiered in 2020 under Berkovich's direction. Since Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has intensified a clampdown…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Equipped by US & Israeli firms, police in Botswana search phones for sources

MEDIA FREEDOM

ORATILE Dikologang was naked when police officers pulled black plastic over his head during his detention in April 2020. It was difficult to breathe, but the interrogation continued, he told CPJ in a recent phone interview. “What are your sources, where do you get information,” he recalled them asking repeatedly. “It was the most painful experience,” he said. Dikologang, the digital editor and co-founder of the Botswana People’s Daily News website, and two others still face jail time in relation to Facebook posts that police were investigating when they hauled the three in for questioning. CPJ documented the incidents, and made several attempts to…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Judge orders detention of Tunisian media magnate Karoui

NEWS

TAREK AMARA A judge has ordered the detention of Tunisian media mogul Nabil Karoui on suspicion of financial corruption, a spokesman for the judicial court said. Karoui is the leader of the Heart of Tunisia party, the second-largest party in parliament, and has previously run for president. His party is one of three that support the technocratic government in parliament. Karoui's aides and party officials were not immediately available to comment. TAP state news agency said Karoui was to face charges of tax evasion and money laundering. Karoui was arrested in August 2019 but released a few months later on…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Threats, detentions and frozen assets: Nigeria’s protesters depict pattern of intimidation

NEWS

LIBBY GEORGE and PAUL CARSTEN AT 7 a.m. on a recent Saturday, Onomene Adene received a call from a man whose voice she did not recognise. The man said he knew her from church and asked for help getting a package to their pastor. She agreed to meet him at a bank near her home in the Nigerian city of Lagos. But shortly after she arrived, according to Adene, three trucks pulled up filled with police armed with rifles and tear gas demanding that she take them to her brother. Terrified, she complied. "It was like they were coming for…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Three migrants shot dead in Libya after failed crossing to Europe

NEWS

LIBYAN authorities shot dead three Sudanese migrants trying to flee detention late on Monday, as they disembarked from a failed attempt to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, a U.N. agency said. "Staff from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Khums, reported that local authorities started shooting when the migrants attempted to escape from the disembarkation point," IOM said in a statement. Reuters could not immediately reach Libya's interior ministry for comment. The migrants were among 70 disembarking from a vessel that was intercepted and sent back by the Libyan coast guard, one of many such voyages undertaken during the…