New York, January 31, 2012--The convictions of two journalists in the Central African Republic over their critical coverage of a top official constitute political censorship, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Committee to Protect Journalists
Central African Republic
New York, January 25, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the Central African Republic to immediately release a newspaper editor imprisoned since January 16 and to drop a politicized prosecution that stems from the paper's critical coverage of a presidential relative who also serves as the government's finance minister.
New York, July 12, 2011-- Two Central African Republic journalists were fined and released from custody Monday after being jailed for weeks in connection with their coverage of public protests by retired military officers who say the government failed to direct European Union funds to them as intended, according to news reports and local journalists.
New York, June 7, 2011--Central African Republic authorities have charged the director of the independent weekly The Hills of Bangui, Faustin Bambou, with inciting hatred and disorder among the military forces and insulting the government, Bambou told CPJ. The director was sent directly to Ngaragba Prison in the capital, Bangui. Four military policemen arrested Bambou at his office on May 27 and detained him at their Research and Investigations Department for 10 days before they presented him with any official charges, according to local journalists.
Letters
| Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Republic of Congo, Senegal, Togo
Your Excellencies: As you gather in Paris for festivities that celebrate your nations’ 50 years of independence, we, the undersigned African press freedom advocates petition for your public commitment to a free, vibrant, and self-sustaining press as a cornerstone of the development of francophone Africa in the next five decades.
In a ruling issued on January 9, 2009, the state-run media
regulator, the High Communication Council, suspended from circulation the
private daily Le Citoyen for one month for allegedly
violating journalism ethics, according to news reports and local
journalists.
UPDATE
FEBRUARY 23, 2008
Posted March 14, 2008
Original alert: January 29, 2008
Faustin Bambou, Les Collines de l'Oubangui IMPRISONED Director Faustin Bambou of the private biweekly Les Collines de l'Oubangui was released from prison on a partial presidential pardon, according to news reports and local journalists. Bambou told CPJ he contracted the flu and malaria while sharing a cell with six or seven cellmates. He was serving a six-month prison sentence on charges of incitement to revolt over a story alleging a high-profile political scandal.
Attacks on the Press
| Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Togo, Uganda
Attacks & developments throughout the region
New York, January 29, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Monday’s six-month prison sentence given by the Bangui Magistrates’ Court to the editorial director of a private weekly in the Central African Republic. The editor of Les Collines de l’Oubangui, Faustin Bambou, was found guilty of inciting revolt, abuse, and defamation.
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