Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)

Members of the IFEX network and other concerned organisations demand justice for wrongful imprisonment of Mohammed Ismael Rasaool

Zambia’s Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Chishimba Kambwili, on October 22, 2015, threatened to revoke the operating licence of Radio Phoenix, the country’s oldest private broadcasting station, if it allegedly continues to be influenced by the opposition.

MISA’s 2015 report reveals that direct requests for information are still generally met with hostility within the public service, with researchers experiencing long delays, non-responsive institutions or demands to justify their request for information.

“While cases pertaining to media freedom violations are somewhat on the decline, we are concerned that a number of the violations involve the assault and harassment of journalists by security personnel,” says MISA-Zimbabwe Chairperson Kumbirai Mafunda.

South Africa’s Cabinet has approved the submission of the films and publications amendment bill despite public outcry that it is guided by policy seeking to curb Internet freedoms. The cabinet said the bill seeks to amend the films and publications act of 1996 by adapting it to technological advances.

Bheki Makhubu and Thulani Maseko were acquitted by the Supreme Court on 30 June 2015. The editor and human rights lawyer had been charged with contempt of court in 2014 for writing articles criticising the Swazi judiciary.

Four years after Sierra Leone Journalist Ibrahim Foday’s death, members of IFEX join the Media Foundation for West Africa in calling for more rapid progress.

Rafael Marques de Morais faced nine defamation charges over his 2011 book, “Blood Diamonds: Torture and Corruption in Angola,” in which he documented the torture and murder of villagers by private security forces in diamond mines.