Articles by Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)
West Africa: Expression of dissent in the form of demonstrations increasingly risky
The MFWA monitoring of freedom of expression rights report in West Africa for July to September highlights the increasing level of intolerance against dissent and in particular demonstrators.
Security forces in Mali brutally break up demonstration
A recent opposition supporters protest march in Bamako was violently dispersed by security forces in Mali.
Two demonstrators shot and killed in Guinea
A brutal crackdown on demonstrations by authorities in Guinea resulted in the fatal shooting of Alimou Diallo and Mamadou Bela Baldé.
Nigerian soldiers arrest and detain “The Punch” journalist for 2 days
Nigerian military personnel arrested and detained journalist Friday Olokor while he was covering the peace enforcement operations in Jos in the Plateau State.
Monrovia’s famous showpiece chalkboard ‘newspaper’ deliberately damaged
Alfred Sirleaf, the editor of the famous chalkboard newspaper in the centre of Monrovia, Liberia is disappointed and concerned at the deliberate damage to his newsstand that has left Monrovians without news.
Internet freedom under threat as crackdown on journalists and bloggers rises
Increasingly, internet users especially journalists, bloggers and activists, who criticise government and state officials suffer attacks, arrests, detentions and abductions for the contents of their posts online.
Journalist Jones Abiri acquitted, awarded damages
A Federal High Court in Abuja has awarded 10 million Naira (about US$27,500) in damages to Jones Abiri, describing the journalist’s two-year detention without trial as an “outright conviction.”
Mauritanian journalists arrested for defamation and released after eight days
Two journalists from two different publications were arrested for defamation and only released after a sit in staged by fellow colleagues.