Articles by Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)
No end in sight for abuse of press freedom as newly re-elected president intimidates media
(MFWA/IFEX) – On 23 September 2006, Gambian president Yahya Jammeh repeated one of his long standing anti-press statements, hinting that he would be more ruthless in dealing with journalists and the media in his third five-year term of office. According to a Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) – Gambia source, President Jammeh gave the […]
GJA threatens legal action against attackers of journalists
(MFWA/IFEX) – On 21 September 2006, the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) threatened legal action against persons or groups of persons who physically attack journalists while they carry out their legitimate duties, because “the rising incidence of physical attacks on the media by individuals poses a serious threat to press freedom and the right of people […]
Editor, journalist arrested, detained and summarily tried but spared punishment in defamation case
(MFWA/IFEX) – On 18 September 2006, a magistrate court in Plateau, a suburb of Abidjan, fined “Le Jour Plus”, a pro-opposition daily newspaper, 15,000,000 CFA Francs (approx. US$29,000) for allegedly defaming President Laurent Gbagbo and his wife, Simone Gbagbo. According to MFWA-Cote d’Ivoire sources, Coulibaly Seydou, the editor-in-chief, and Eduardo Gonto, political correspondent of the […]
Journalist assaulted by minister’s wife and her companions
(MFWA/IFEX) – On 15 September 2006, David Tamakloe, a reporter with “The Enquirer” bi-weekly newspaper, was violently attacked by Mercy Anane, wife of Ghana’s minister of road transport, and four others, for allegedly taking pictures of her (Anane). The other assailants, three men who accompanied Anane and her sister, hit Tamakloe in the abdomen and […]
Journalist, previously detained for “biased reporting” and removed from his post, reinstated
(MFWA/IFEX) – On 8 September 2006, Dodou Sanneh, a journalist working with the state-owned Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS), was arrested and detained at a secret location by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) for alleged biased reporting. According to a MFWA-Gambia source, on 13 September Sanneh was released and also relieved of his post. […]
Newspaper editor harassed, chased by guards of suspected drug criminal
(MFWA/IFEX) – On 12 September 2006, Andrew Edwin Arthur, editor of ‘The Independent”, a tri-weekly newspaper in Accra, was chased by security personnel guarding the confiscated residence of Kwabena Amaning, a suspected drug criminal who is on remand for drug related offences. Arthur was chased away while taking a photograph of the confiscated mansion at […]
Ruling party activists assault journalists
(MFWA/IFEX) – On 29 August 2006, a group of activists of the ruling party, Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), heckled and rained insults on journalists who were covering a press conference for asking “wrong questions”. According to a MFWA-Cote d’ Ivoire source, the press conference had been called to condemn an alleged assault on Diabate Beh, […]
Two journalists sentenced to 18 months in prison with no parole
(MFWA/IFEX) – On 1 September 2006, a regional court in Niamey sentenced Mamane Abou, publication director, and Oumarou Keita, managing editor of the weekly “Le Republicain”, to 18 months in prison each on two counts of “publishing false information” and “defaming the state of Niger”. The court also fined Abou and Keita 5 million CFA […]