In Senegal, El Malick Seck, managing editor of 24 Heures Chrono was handed another six-month term on 23 December for defaming Interior Minister Sheikh Tidiane Sy. The editor was also ordered to pay a fine of FCFA 250,000 (US$560), as well as FCFA 20 million (US$66,600) in damages to the minister. Another defamation claim was brought against Seck and 24 Heures Chrono reporter Maké Dagnokho, by the Ministry of Culture’s secretary general, Pape Massène Sène. Both men were sentenced to a one-year suspended prison term and each fined FCFA 250,000 and Sène was awarded FCFA 20 million in damages.
In Equatorial Guinea, the deputy minister of information, tourism and culture Purita Opo Barila made an arbitrary decision on 19 January to dismiss four journalists from state radio and TV broadcaster RTVGE for "insubordination" and "lack of enthusiasm." The minister gave no other explanation for their dismissals. The men were technicians and a cameraman of RTVGE, regarded as state employees who can be fired on the spot without warning or explanation. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) learned from local sources that the four journalists were punished for failing to praise the regime’s "merits."
In Egypt, the Al Zohor court of misdemeanors fined blogger Mohammed Mabrouk, author of the Hakika Masriyah blog, US$450 on 20 January. A further US$7,240 was awarded in compensation to the Trust Chemicals Company in a libel case filed by the company in June 2008.
In Ghana, journalist Bismark Bebli, political reporter of The Chronicle, an Accra-based independent newspaper, was attacked on 18 January by irate supporters of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), while covering a post-election rally at Abeka Lapaz, a suburb of Accra. Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) correspondent reported that the supporters heckled and insulted the journalist, destroying his notebook in the process. He was rescued by another party supporter, Augustine Mills, who took Bebli to safety.
In Central African Republic, publishers kept newspapers from newsstands in Bangui on 27 Jan as a show of solidarity for a publication suspended for criticising the authorities as "mangy dogs." This was partly as a response to the High Council for Communication’s (HCC) suspension Le Citoyen newspaper for one month starting 10 January. The HCC charged that the newspaper was sanctioned for "insulting" the authorities and using "indecent terms"
Sources for the Alerts
Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)
Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI)
Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)