(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Home Affairs Minister Noah Katana Ngala, RSF protested the crackdown on the private press by the Kenyan police. RSF asked the minister to do everything in his power to ensure that journalists can work freely and safely across the country. “In less than a week, the police closed a […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Home Affairs Minister Noah Katana Ngala, RSF protested the crackdown on the private press by the Kenyan police. RSF asked the minister to do everything in his power to ensure that journalists can work freely and safely across the country. “In less than a week, the police closed a television channel and a radio station and arrested two journalists. The government must condemn these violations of press freedom in Kenya,” explained Robert Menard, the organisation’s secretary-general. “Moreover, the closure of the two media outlets is contrary to a high court decision taken last year,” added Menard. Finally, RSF asked for the release of a journalist detained in the east of the country.
According to information obtained by RSF, on 25 April 2001, police shut down Citizen FM and Citizen TV. Both stations are the property of Samuel Kamau Macharia, who was arrested by the police on the same day and released a few hours later on bail of 500,000 shillings (approximately US$ 6468; 7200 euros). Journalists who covered the arrest were locked in an office of the Citizen press group for a short time. The police were accompanied by officers from the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK). This Commission says that the two media outlets do not respect the Communications Act of 1998. Macharia was charged with setting up a radio station without a licence and obstructing the police when they searched his premises. Citizen FM was closed in 2000 for the same reasons, but a High Court decision allowed the station to continue broadcasting while the appeal was pending. The Court also forbade the CCK from interfering with the radio station during the proceedings.
Furthermore, a journalist was arrested on 21 April by the police in Garissa (eastern Kenya). Milton Omondi, correspondent for the Kenya News Agency (KNA), went to a police station to report death threats he received after exposing corruption among police officers. The journalist was accused of “creating a disturbance” and put in jail. He was reportedly released the same day and arrested again three days later (see IFEX alert of 25 April 2001).
For further information, contact Jean-François Julliard at RSF, rue Geoffroy Marie, Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 84, fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51, e-mail: afrique@rsf.fr, Internet: http://www.rsf.fr
