journalists - The African Mirror

Apr

2021

Tunisian journalists protest over new head of state news agency

TAREK AMARA TUNISIAN police yesterday clashed with journalists at the state news agency demonstrating against a new chief executive whose appointment they see as an attempt to undermine editorial independence. Dozens of protesting journalists had gathered in front of Tunis Afrique Presse's (TAP) headquarters to try to stop Kamel Ben Younes from entering, but police later forced a way in. "TAP is free and police must go," the journalists chanted. Protesting journalists say Ben Younes is too close to the moderate Islamist Ennahda, the biggest party in parliament. They accuse him of backing moves to control the press before the…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

How press freedom was threatened during Covid-19

MEDIA FREEDOM

MEERA SELVA A free press is needed to provide the flow of information through a society, and also to hold the powerful to account and tell the stories of those who may otherwise not be heard. A free press also paints pictures of our society. It defines us and it defines the national conversation. A free press is also under attack. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 274 journalists were imprisoned last year. Thirty-two were killed, some by crossfire or in war zones, but many deliberately targeted and murdered as a direct result of their work. Not only is…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Uganda security personnel beat journalists covering petition on rights abuses

MEDIA FREEDOM

ELIAS BIRYABAREMA UGANDAN military and police officers beat and seriously injured journalists on Wednesday as they covered the delivery of a petition about human rights violations to a United Nations office, a rights group said. The security personnel assaulted the journalists as they covered opposition leader and pop star Bobi Wine, who was petitioning the local U.N. human rights office to investigate reported incidents of rights violations. Police will release a statement on the incident later, a police spokesman said. At least 20 journalists were hurt in the attack, with at least four sustaining deep cuts on the head that…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Record number of journalists imprisoned in 2020 – report

MEDIA FREEDOM

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…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

How COVID-19 has worsened attacks against journalists in Kenya

MEDIA FREEDOM

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,…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Algerian court jails journalist three years

MEDIA FREEDOM

AN Algerian court has sentenced a journalist and activist to three years in prison on charges of harming national unity, a rights group that defends detainees said. The court in the capital, Algiers, also handed a four-month jail sentence to two other activists for the same charges, according to the National Committee for the Release of Detainees. Justice Ministry officials could not be reached for comment. The sentences against journalist Khaled Drareni and activists Samir Benlarbi and Slimane Hamitouche are linked to protests that toppled President Abdelaziz Bouteflika last year. The protests broke out in February 2019 to reject Bouteflika's…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Zimbabwe court rules journalist danger to public, extends detention

NEWS

A Zimbabwean court ruled on Friday that a journalist charged with inciting violence was a danger to the public and extended his detention until August, while the United Nations expressed concern that authorities could be clamping down on freedoms. Hopewell Chin'ono and opposition politician Jacob Ngarivhume were arrested on Monday on allegations of promoting planned protests against corruption in government on July 31, which police say will turn violent. The two, who deny the charges, face up to 10 years imprisonment if convicted. Chin'ono's lawyer Doug Coltart said a Harare magistrate had ruled that the journalist "is a danger to…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Zimbabwe activist, journalist charged in court over planned protests

NEWS

A Zimbabwean rights activist and a journalist were charged in court on Wednesday with promoting public violence ahead of planned anti-government protests next week and will be kept in jail until a bail ruling on Thursday. Jacob Ngarivhume, an activist and opposition politician behind the July 31 demonstrations, and freelance journalist and government critic Hopewell Chin'ono were arrested at their homes on Monday. Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin'ono. Photo: Twitter In court, state prosecutors accused the two of using their Twitter accounts to mobilise Zimbabweans to commit public violence by encouraging citizens to demonstrate. Activists have called for street demonstrations on…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Sudan’s army launches legal action against ‘insulting’ activists

NEWS

SUDAN's army has started legal action against activists and journalists who have "insulted" the military, it said in a statement. The army ruled Sudan for a few months after removing veteran leader Omar al-Bashir in April 2019, before signing a fragile three-year power-sharing deal with civilians under pressure from protesters. In a statement, the army said that legal action would be taken against activists, journalists and others both inside and outside Sudan. No further information was given, but the army said it would release more details in due course. "The armed forces took this step after systematic insults and accusations…