Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA) has condemned last Saturday’s killing of a senior journalist and trade unionist in Somalia, Hassan Osman Abdi, by gunmen in Mogadishu and demanded that the matter be investigated by an independent team and not the Transitional Government’s security agencies. Abdi, who was the director of Shabelle Media Network and also an official of the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) within Mogadishu, was shot dead on Saturday 28 January 2012 as he arrived home in the Madina district in Mogadishu at 18:30 local time. [..]
Prison authorities in Burundi yesterday transferred Hassan Ruvakuki, a journalist working for Bonesha FM radio, who is also a correspondent for Radio France International (RFI), to another prison facility –Muramvya, in Central Burundi in a move that has sparked off protests from his lawyers and the Union of Burundi Journalists (UBJ). Ruvakuki, who has been held in police cells in Cankuzo in Eastern Burundi since his arrest on November 28, 2011, was first transferred to Ruyigi Prison along with other co-defenders amid protests and fears over their safety on January 6, 2012. [..]
Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA) has condemned the arrest and detention of 25 journalists by the authorities in Somaliland and called for their immediate release. EAJA President Dr. Muheldin Ahmed Idris described the move as “cruel and uncalled for assault on the media by security guards”. Presidential guards on Sunday, 15 January 2012, beat up journalists from HornCable TV, Jamhuuriya Newspaper, Waaheen Newspaper, Geeska Afrika newspaper, Bulsho TV and Sahan newspaper who were holding a peaceful protest in front of Somaliland presidential palace. [..]
Sudanese Security Service on Thursday January 14, 2012 shut down Alwan, an Arabic daily based in Khartoum, a day after the security officers confiscated all the copies due for distribution. Sudanese Journalists Union (SJU), an affiliate of Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA), said the security officers did not give any reason for the closer of the newspaper. The editor, Husain Khojaly, told SJU that the security personnel stormed into the paper’s premises and ordered the closure without giving any reason. [..]
Burundian radio journalist Hassan Ruvakuki, who has been in police cells since November 2011, appeared at the Cankuzo High Court for the third time Wednesday January 11, 2012 with 22 others but declared lack of confidence in the court saying they were unlikely to get a fair trial. The journalist and co-defendants requested the Court of Appeal of Gitega, to transfer them to another court with similar jurisdiction for trial saying they doubted the impartiality of the Cankuzo High Court. Their trial was postponed to January 15, 2012. [..]
A Burundian radio journalist Hassan Ruvakuki, who has been in police cells since November 2011, on Friday January 6, 2012, appeared at the Cankuzo High Court in the eastern part of the country where he complained about the deplorable prison conditions and intimidation by state officials. [..]
The Sudanese government through its Security Service has suspended the publication of an Arabic daily newspaper, Rayalshab. Reports from the Sudanese capital Khartoum, say the government took the drastic move on Monday January 2, 2012, a day after a contingent of the security forces raided the newspaper’s premises and confiscated all the copies that were due for distribution on New Year. Sudanese Journalists Union (SJU) said the move had paralyzed the newspaper and put in jeopardy the jobs of hundreds of journalists who have also been intimidated. [..]
Eastern Africa Journalists Association has expressed worry over continuing assault on media freedom in Burundi through arrests and beating up of journalists. EAJA Secretary General Omar Faruk Osman said the Burundian authorities were continuing to “to narrow down the media freedom space through intimidation, assault and arrests of journalists”. On January 2, police beat up a TV cameraman from the private television station, “Renaissance”, David Ndikumana, as he covered a brawl between two factions of the opposition party, UPD-Zigamibanga. [..]
Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA) has condemned the jailing of two Swedish journalists by an Ethiopian court and vowed to wage a campaign with its global partners for their release. EAJA through its Secretary General Omar Faruk Osman, said in a statement that the 11 year jail term handed down on the two journalists Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson by a judge in Addis Ababa yesterday December 27, “was cruel and an unwarranted assault on media freedom”. [..]
Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA) today expressed dismay over the delay of the trial of 5 journalists, among them 2 from Sweden that have been charged with terror related crimes. The Ethiopian Federal High Court on Tuesday October 18, 2011, adjourned to tomorrow, October 20, the case of the two Swedish journalists, Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson, who were accused of illegal entry into Ethiopian border and associating with the rebel group, Oromo National Liberation Front (ONLF). [..]