North Africa

  In Algeria, journalist Hassan Bourras received a two-year prison sentence for libel on 6 November for articles he had written on corruption. Bourras, a correspondent in the town of El Bayadh for several papers, including a regional paper "El Djazari" and the national daily "El Youm", was convicted following a complaint by the local prosecutor about two articles that appeared in "El Djazari". One article claimed the prosecutor’s wife had forged a document in order to obtain a job and the other reported on illegal property dealings by prominent local people.
  In Tunisia, Zouhair Yahyaoui was released from prison after completing 17 months of a two-year sentence on 18 November. The journalist, who founded TUNeZINE.com, an online magazine that included reports of human rights violations and was highly critical of President Ben Ali’s regime, was sentenced in July 2002 to 28 months in prison for "propagation of false news", "non-authorized usage of an Internet connection" and "theft from an employer." His sentence was later reduced from twenty-eight months to two years. Yahyaoui had reportedly qualified for conditional release, having served half his sentence.

West Africa

  In Niger, three employees of ANFANI FM radio station were arrested by police authorities on 13 November. Amadou Mamoudou and Harouna Mato, reporters at the station, and Ismael Moutari, director of the station, were arrested after reportedly being accused of broadcasting information on a conflict between farmers and cattle breeders that had resulted in some deaths. All three were later released.
  In Cameroon, Radio Veritas was shut down by government authorities on 15 November, reportedly for technical and legal reasons after two weeks of test broadcasting in the city of Douala. The radio station, set up by Le Messager media group, is the second of the group’s stations to have been banned recently. In May, Freedom FM was also shut down hours before it was set to begin broadcasting.

East Africa

  In Sudan, the Arabic-language daily "Al-Ayam" was suspended on 16 November, reportedly for "threatening the security and stability" of the country. It is thought that the closure might be related to Al-Ayam’s reporting of events in southern Sudan. Also in Sudan, security forces arrested correspondents Gasim Tah, of "Al Sahafa" newspaper, and Mouhanad Hussain, of "Akhbar Alyom", on 15 November, but released them the same day. The two journalists had been preparing a report on an Arabic militia’s torching of two villages in South Darfour province.

Southern Africa

  In Zambia, the privately owned Omega Television was reportedly ordered shut on 11 November, following the reversal of a High Court order allowing it to continue its test broadcasts to Lusaka. The station had been granted a "stay of execution" on 19 September, although it had lost its case against the cancellation of a 18-month long "construction permit" that had been valid until July.
  In Zimbabwe, the Magistrate Court dismissed an application by the four Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) directors in which they asked the court to drop the charges laid against them on 14 November, 2003. The four directors, Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, Stuart Mattinson, Brian Mutsau and Rachel Kupara were arrested last month for publishing an edition of the Daily News after the Administrative Court ordered that it be granted a licence before November 31, 2003. They are to appear in court on February 6, 2004, for a routine hearing pending a trial date. Also in Zimbabwe, Shadreck Pongo, a photojournalist with "The Standard" newspaper, was reportedly beaten by police officers in Harare while covering a nation-wide demonstration organised by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) on 18 November. The journalist was reportedly pulled into a police truck where he was assaulted with police batons and had his camera destroyed.