New York, January 5, 2012--The government of Gabon, led by President Ali Bongo, on Tuesday imposed suspensions on a TV station and a newspaper for coverage of opposition leader André Mba Obame, according to local journalists and news reports.
Committee to Protect Journalists
Gabon
From a Fatal Fire, Many
Questions in Brazzaville
A mysterious midnight fire engulfs columnist Bruno Jacquet Ossébi's home in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. Mounting questions about the fire and Ossébi's subsequent death remain unresolved. In a special report, CPJ examines the fatal fire that took the life of Ossébi, left, an outspoken online journalist who closely scrutinized the Congolese government.• Version Française
• Audio Report: CPJ's Mohamed Keita
• Reportage Audio: Sarah Turbeaux du CPJ
As news of Middle Eastern and North African protests swirl around the globe, satellite television and the Internet prove vital sources of information for Africans as governments fearful of an informed citizenry and a free press such as in Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, and Zimbabwe impose total news blackouts on the developments.
Last week, Gabon's government-controlled National Communications Council ordered the TV station of opposition leader André Mba Obame off the air for a period of three months. The ruling is without appeal and, typically, this is how authorities in this oil-rich equatorial African state silence critical news outlets. Except that, this time, the "reporting" for which the TV station was forced off the air was not about a real event but rather the staging of a faux presidential swearing-in ceremony.
New York, October 29, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Gabonese authorities to free a journalist who was jailed on Tuesday for failing to pay exorbitant damages stemming from a 2004 civil libel suit.
In Gabon, more than a year after the historic and contested presidential elections won by Ali Ben Bongo Ondimba, the main radio and television stations of Ondimba's two main opponents still face administrative obstructions imposed during the polls, according to interviews CPJ conducted with journalists and officials between July and September.
I will never forget that morning of August
17, 1960, in Port-Gentil when I was awakened with a jolt by the screams: "Long live independence, long
live freedom!" Yet
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.
New York, June 10, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a suspended prison sentence handed to a journalist this week over an article raising questions about the unsolved murder of a government official.
Subscribe
Gabon Atom Feed
