Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)

(MISA/IFEX) – Afonso Dhlakama, the leader of Renamo, Mozambique’s main opposition party, said on 12 November 1999 that he was “in solidarity” with all Mozambican journalists. He added that they were “courageous”, but that the problem lay with editors who “harass” their reporters and “always cut their texts when these are good”. **Updates IFEX alert […]

(MISA/IFEX) – At least nineteen newspapers have been cautioned by the Tanzanian government over the past year and threatened with government action because of their content. Minister of State Responsible for Information Muhammed Seif Khatib alluded to this fact while he was speaking during a debate in parliament. Khatib added that the government had taken […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The principal director in the Office of the President, Christopher Mushowe, has commenced a defamation suit against the now defunct “Sunday Gazette” for articles which appeared in January 1996. The articles in question alleged that Mushowe used his power and influence to enrol in a master’s degree programme at the University of Zimbabwe. […]

(MISA/IFEX) – Two men are being held in Dar-es-Salaam in connection with cassettes containing allegedly defamatory statements about deceased former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere. On 4 November 1999, police in Arusha arrested Ambokile Malele and confiscated sixteen cassettes. Malele reportedly was selling the cassettes on the street at the time of his arrest. On 9 […]

(MISA/IFEX) – MISA has confirmed that detained journalist Rafael Marques has not been charged in terms of the Angolan law. This corrects previous reports which said that he had been charged with defamation of the president and with offences falling under the Law of Crimes Against the State. However, the state is currently still pursuing […]

(MISA/IFEX) – At least two journalists were threatened and forced to leave their posts on 28 October 1999 following an apparent illegal strike by workers at the Swaziland Television Broadcasting Corporation (STBC). Since then, six workers at STBC have also been suspended without pay from the corporation, apparently because of their involvement in the strike. […]

(MISA/IFEX) – On 1 November 1999, twelve journalists from the independent newspaper “Post” charged with espionage appeared before the Lusaka High Court. **Updates IFEX alerts of 29 October, 25 May, 30 April, 19 April, 1 April, 26 March, 25 March, 22 March, 19 March, 18 March, 17 March, 15 March, 12 March, 11 March and […]

(MISA/IFEX) – Journalist Rafael Marques, who was arrested by police in Luanda on 16 October 1999, remains in detention despite the expiry of the fifteen-day period during which the state can legally detain him without bringing him to trial. **Updates IFEX alerts on the Marques case of 28 October, 22 October, 20 October, 19 October, […]