[REPOSTED from CPJ.ORG]
New York, October 15, 2009—The editor-in-chief of Zambia’s largest newspaper was criminally charged for the second time on Wednesday after running an op-ed critical of controversial pornography charges against a journalist, according to local journalists and news reports.

Magistrate David Simusamba charged Fred M’membe,1995 recipient of CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award, and the daily Post with contempt of court over an August op-ed on the ongoing trial of Post News Editor Chansa Kabwela, according to defense lawyer Remmy Mainsa. Contempt of court charges may be used against authors of opinion pieces that comment on ongoing trials, according to Zambian law. (more…)

Benin City – October 27, 2009

Students at Irrua Special Teaching Hospital

As reported by Patrick Ochoga of Leadership Nigeria , Journalists who hadgone to cover the press briefing by resident doctors at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH) were rough-handled by the security personnel attached to the hospital.

Many of the medical staff at the hospital had gone on strike to protest inadequate training and treatment of staff as compared with management.

See additional details on this story from AllAfrica.com

(Thanks to Gina Robbins for locating this story)

[Reposted from the UN News Centre]

The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom

Ohu, a 45-year-old assistant news editor at influential private daily The Guardian, was shot dead September 20 by unidentified gunmen as he answered a knock at the front door of his house in a northern suburb of Lagos.

today condemned the recent killing of a Nigerian news editor, and called on authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Bayo Ohu, the assistant news editor of the Nigerian daily newspaper, The Guardian, was shot dead in his home on 20 September as he was preparing to attend church, according to a news release issued by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

“The shooters removed the victim’s laptop and mobile phone from the house, leading to speculation that the killing may have been linked to his work as a journalist, according to the International Press Institute (IPI),” the news release added.

UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura spoke out against the killing, stating that freedom of expression is a basic human right and its corollary, press freedom, is essential for democracy and rule of law.

Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO

“Therefore, I trust that the authorities, in the interest of the whole of Nigerian society, will do all they can to bring the culprits of this crime to justice,” Mr. Matsuura said.

See the latest news on Bayo Ohu

(Thanks to Gina Robbins)

From the Daily Press (before government control in 2003)

A power-sharing arrangement in Zimbabwe between President Mugabe and the rival Movement for Democratic Change has mandated a free press. However, as reported in this week’s Economist, those freedom’s have yet to materialize that the only available daily is still a government mouthpiece.

Zimbabwe continues to rank miserably on the Freedom House international press freedom rankings and despite agreements to open up the print outlets to opposition voices, there is no sign of the government releasing control of television or the radio airways. We’ll be following this story to see the effects, if any, of the new power-sharing government on the advancement of new news outlets.

Brian Kennedy

May 2, 2009

Washington, DC — Ghana, Mali, and Mauritius had the highest press freedomranking in Africa in Freedom House’s annual Freedom of the Press Report released in Washington, DC.

The three countries were ranked 53rd in the world on an index of press freedom. The press in South Africa, Cape Verde, Namibia and Sao Tome and Principe were also rated as “free,” although South Africa saw its press freedom rating decline in the last year.

At the other end of the scale, Eritrea, Libya, Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea were ranked in the bottom ten countries in the world, with the press there categorized as “not free.” The four countries are among the worst press abusers in Africa.

Overall in sub-Saharan Africa, 23 countries (48 percent) were classified as “not free”, seven (15 percent) as “free” and 18 (37 percent) as “partly free”. There were no status changes this year.

In addition to South Africa, Botswana, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Lesotho, Mauritania, Senegal and Tanzania also saw their press freedom rating decline.

“Official harassment of the press as well as increased use of legal means to restrict media freedom were key factors in many declines,” the organization wrote in the report.

Senegal’s press freedom declined again this year due to “an increase in both legal and extralegal action taken against media,” according to Freedom House. Last year, Senegal was downgraded from free to partly free because of the “growing authoritarian trend in the policies of President Abdoulaye Wade, exemplified by the postponement of municipal elections.”

Comoros, Sierra Leone, Angola and Liberia improved their press freedom rating.