A Dakar court judge charged Zik Fm editor-in-chief Simon Pierre Faye with spreading false news on April 14 and released him under judicial control. On the same day, the Dakar gendarmerie questioned for several hours online broadcaster Source A TV’s journalists Omar Ndiaye and Fatima Coulibaly, and freelance news commentator Abdou Nguer, over their comments on the death of a local official. Nguer’s lawyer told local media that the gendarmes detained the journalist on false news charges related to a TikTok post that does not belong to him. The post called for an autopsy of the official. Ndiaye and Coulibaly were released without charges.

“Senegalese authorities must drop all charges against journalist Simon Pierre Faye, release news commentator Abdou Nguer, and end their judicial harassment of journalists,” said Moussa Ngom, CPJ’s Francophone Africa Representative. “Authorities should instead focus their efforts on advancing promised reforms to decriminalize press offenses.”

Police arrested Faye on April 10 for a post on his outlet’s Facebook page, later deleted, republishing another article on the alleged distrust of President Faye’s leadership.

Responding to a parliamentarian’s question about Faye’s detention, Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko said that “penal policy will now be zero tolerance” for spreading “false news.”

CPJ has documented detentions of Senegalese journalists on false news charges, an offense punishable by one to three years in prison. In his campaign, President Faye promised to replace imprisonment for press offenses with fines. 

Separately, on April 13, police and gendarmes stopped and questioned Al Jazeera Qatar journalist Nicolas Haque and his camera operator, Magali Rochat, upon their arrival in the southern Ziguinchor city, where they sought to report on the return of people displaced by the region’s conflict. The journalists were sent back to Dakar the day after, Haque told CPJ.

CPJ’s email to the government’s information and communications office was not answered.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“The latest arrests in Azerbaijan’s unprecedented media crackdown show more clearly than ever that authorities’ real goal is to entirely stifle the work of independent media inside the country,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Azerbaijani authorities should immediately release Nurlan Gahramanli and Fatima Mövlamli, along with nearly two dozen other journalists currently jailed on clearly retaliatory charges.”

In separate hearings, the Khatai District Court in the capital, Baku, ordered Gahramanli into pretrial detention for one month and 17 days on February 21 and set a pretrial detention period of one month and nine days for Mövlamli on March 1.

The arrests bring the total number of Meydan TV journalists jailed on currency smuggling charges to nine. Police detained six of the outlet’s staff in December and arrested journalist Shamshad Agha in February. Pro-government media claimed Agha was entrusted with the “management” of Meydan TV’s in-country operations following the December arrests and “recruited” several journalists, including Gahramanli and Mövlamli.

The Meydan TV journalists are among at least 24 journalists and media workers currently jailed in Azerbaijan, one of the world’s top 10 jailers of journalists in 2024, according to CPJ’s annual prison census. Most of them hail from the country’s largest independent media and have been charged over allegations of bringing Western donor funds into the country illegally, amid a decline in relations between Azerbaijan and the West.

On February 26, a Baku court moved another journalist charged on funding accusations, Toplum TV presenter Shahnaz Baylargizi, from pretrial detention into house arrest on health grounds.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

On her birth anniversary this year, former journalist, author and self-proclaimed activist Dilip Mandal took to X to a pen a post titled “Confession”. In this, he claimed that Fatima Sheikh never actually existed and was a character “fabricated” by him.

“I had created a myth or a fabricated character and named her Fatima Sheikh. Please forgive me. The truth is that ‘Fatima Sheikh’ never existed; she is not a historical figure. Not a real person. It is my mistake that, during a particular phase, I created this name out of nothing—essentially from thin air. I did that knowingly,” Mandal writes.

Confession:

I had created a myth or a fabricated character and named her Fatima Sheikh.

Please forgive me. The truth is that “Fatima Sheikh” never existed; she is not a historical figure. Not a real person.

It is my mistake that, during a particular phase, I created this name… pic.twitter.com/8pHjiQXTfG

— Dilip Mandal (@Profdilipmandal) January 9, 2025

The “fictional sketch” here refers to an article by him published in The Print on January 9, 2019 titled: ‘Why Indian history has forgotten Fatima Sheikh but remembers Savitribai Phule’. After Mandal’s latest post on X, however, The Print retracted this piece.

Three days later, on January 11, Mandal posted another thread on X titled: “11 Points of Agreement in the Fatima Sheikh Controversy”, where he outlined claims supporting his latest argument that Fatima Sheikh is a fictional character he created and not a real historical figure.

He claims there is no historical evidence that points to Fatima Sheikh’s existence and association with Savitribai Phule since there are “no books, poems, government documents, letters, or newspapers from that era that mention her”.

11 Points of Agreement in the Fatima Sheikh Controversy:

A thread highlighting key points of consensus among otherwise disagreeing parties.

— Dilip Mandal (@Profdilipmandal) January 11, 2025

Finding Fatima Sheikh

In this report, we will try to tackle Mandal’s latest claim that “no contemporary evidence from that era exists to confirm the existence of ‘Fatima Sheikh’ during the time period she is said to have lived” and whether this can be used to establish that the discourse around Fatima Sheikh predates Mandal’s writing around her.

1. Books and letters

One of the first and easily locatable academic references to Fatima Sheikh is in an anthology of Indian women’s writing — “Women writing in India: 600 B.C. to the present” — edited by Susie Tharu and K Lalitha, published in 1991. This collection delves into the literary contributions of Indian women from ancient times to the early 20th century and brings to the mainstream voices of historically marginalised women writers. The anthology features poetry, prose, letters and autobiographical fragments, all of which reflect the socio-political and cultural contexts of their time.

Savitribai Phule’s name emerges prominently each time there’s any mention of Indian women who made significant contributions to society but were excluded from historical records. Tharu and Lalitha’s anthology dedicates a chapter to Phule, in which Fatima Sheikh is clearly mentioned. In a brief introduction to Phule and her work, Sheikh is referred to as a colleague of Savitribai and her husband Jyotirao Phule, who was also an activist and reformer. The book says:

“In 1848, when Savithribai was only seventeen, they (Jyotirao and she) opened five schools in and around Pune, and in 1851, one meant especially for the girls from the mang and mahar castes. Savithribai and Jotiba, together with another colleague, Fatima Sheik, taught in them until 1856 when Savithribai fell seriously ill and went back to her parental home in Naigaon (Khandala taluk, Satara district), where she was nursed back to health by her elder brother, ‘Bhau’.”

The edition also has a letter Savitribai wrote to her husband in October 1856, from her parental home where she was recovering from her illness. This letter, translated from Marathi to English by Maya Pandit, who has translated 18 books, including Marathi Dalit women’s autobiographies, again mentions Sheikh.

Savitribai writes:

“…I’ll come to Pune as soon as I have completely recovered. Please don’t be worried about me. This must be causing a lot of trouble to Fatima. But I am sure she will understand and won’t grumble.”

When we reached out to Susie Tharu to learn more on the scholarship regarding Sheikh and her primary sources, she said much of Phules’ life, including what the chapter contains, has been documented by eminent scholars specialising in Marathi literature, Dalit history and the role of Muslims in social reform in India, such as Vidyut Bhagwat, Ram Bhapat, Gail Omvedt and Gail Minault. The chapter on Phule was written in consultation with some of these scholars and their work. She also told Alt News that the burden of proof of Fatima Sheikh’s non-existence should be placed on Dilip Mandal and not the other way around.

“It’s clear now that Dr Mandal’s claim that he invented Fatima Sheikh is false… Mandal should be asked what evidence he has that the Sheikhs (Fatima and her brother Usman Sheikh) were not involved?”

The other mention of Sheikh and Phule together is in M G Mali’s biography of Savitribai Phule titled ‘Kranti Jyoti Savitribai Phule’. In this biography, first published in 1980, Mali mentions Fatima Sheikh alongside others who assisted and made significant contributions to Savitribai Phule’s efforts:

“Just as Savitribai contributed to Mahatma Phule’s work in the social field, contributions from progressive thinkers such as Sagunabai Kshirsagar, Vishnupant Thate, Vamanrao Kharaatkar and Fatima Sheikh also played a role. Fatima Sheikh, who studied at the normal school opened by the Phule couple, became the first student and the first Indian Muslim woman teacher at that school. Savitribai and Fatima Sheikh taught in schools for girls from the lower untouchable society, while other assistant teachers taught in schools for Brahmin or wealthy girls. Both Savitribai and Fatima were fully capable of teaching”.

Dr. M.G. Mali, in his biography क्रांतीज्योती सावित्रीबाई फुले (Kranti Jyoti Savitribai Phule), originally published in 1980, writes: “Just as Savitribai Phule contributed to the social reform efforts of Mahatma Phule, pic.twitter.com/eXhkh1cehu

— Revolutionary Memes For Bahujan Teens (@RMBT_tweets) January 10, 2025

This debunks Dilip Mandal’s claim that there are no historical records, or books or letters mentioning Fatima Sheikh before he wrote about her. References to a person named ‘Fatima’ as a close associate of the Phules appear in Tharu and Lalitha’s 1990 anthology on women writers as well as Mali’s 1980 biography of Phule.

2. Photograph with Savitribai Phule 

Another piece of evidence that cements Sheikh’s association with the Phules is a photograph of them from over a century ago.

This appears in another book on Savitribai Phule titled ‘Savitribai Phule – Samagra Vangmaya’, which was also edited by M G Mali. It was first published in 1988; subsequent editions were published by the Maharashtra government’s Literature and Culture Board. Page 49 of the digital copy of this book has a note by editor M G Mali followed by several photographs of Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule with some of the people in their lives. Page 54 of the book has a photograph of three women — two sitting and one standing behind them — along with two young girls. The accompanying caption says, “Savitribai Phule and Fatima Sheikh with two students from their school (A rare photograph developed from a negative over a hundred years ago)”. Scholars believe that in this photograph, the woman standing behind the two others who are seated is Fatima Sheikh.Thus while it is true that evidence surrounding Fatima Sheikh’s existence is limited, enough records predating Mandal’s article point to the fact that she did, in fact, exist and was closely associated with Savitribai Phule.

Mandal only speculates about Fatima Sheikh’s existence, fails to disprove it

In his January 11 X thread, Mandal says that only one letter from Savitribai Phule to her husband has a reference to Fatima Sheikh, and even that is just a single line. He claims that this brief mention offers no concrete evidence of Fatima Sheikh’s existence or her key role as an educator. This letter, originally in Marathi, is the same one appearing in Tharu and Lalita’s anthology.

He further adds, “It is unclear who this ‘Fatima’ was, what work burden she had, and why she would not complain. These questions remain unanswered and likely unanswerable. In Marathi, the phrase ‘not complain’ is written as ‘kurkur’ nahi karegi, which does not convey much respect toward Fatima… She may have been a household servant or helper”.

His argument that the word “kurkur” used in Savitribai Phule’s letter denotes a lack of respect is farfetched because the connotation of disrespect is based on a generic idea of how the word may have been spoken or used in popular culture. “Kurkur” is a common Marathi term for ‘grumble’ or ‘complain’.

Mandal goes on to say that it’s possible the ‘Fatima’ mentioned in Savitribai’s letter could be Christian: ‘she could have been Fatima Ansari, Fatima Kunjra, or Fatima Dhuniya’.

5. This “Fatima” might have been a Christian, as the name was common among Christian women long before the advent of Islam. Alternatively, she could have been Fatima Ansari, Fatima Kunjra, or Fatima Dhuniya. She may have been a household servant or helper. pic.twitter.com/8KgfZFCmzK

— Dilip Mandal (@Profdilipmandal) January 11, 2025

This too seems mere speculation on Mandal’s part. His phrase “She could have been…” is a wide net to cast doubt without any substantial evidence.

To put it simply, by introducing alternative theories Mandal is perhaps exploiting the limited historical evidence of her existence and contributions. And while the lack of availability of written, textual material is a genuine issue, it cannot be used to conclusively establish that Sheikh did not exist or had no contribution to the education movement.

According to Professor Shraddha Kumbhojkar, head of the History department at Savitribai Phule Pune University, while there is only one concrete piece of evidence suggesting the existence of Fatima Sheikh, there is a strong implication that a female colleague took on responsibilities during Savitribai Phule’s absence. The letter to her husband could be seen as her reference to an able colleague like Sheikh.

She adds that it is very plausible that a Muslim woman like Sheikh was a close associate considering the Phules’ Satyashodhak movement included individuals across castes and religions, with Muslims forming a significant part of it.

We reached out to Pune-based researcher Tahera Shaikh, whose work focuses on Fatima Sheikh. Shaikh, who has written a book in Urdu titled ‘Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule’, specifically told us that her interest in Fatima Sheikh was primarily born out of the fact that there was so little material available.

“I went to all the spaces in person and tried to document as much as I could but while we were able to establish what her life entailed and what her contributions primarily were, public records on Sheikh are few,” she said. She added that some references to Sheikh could be found in the works of Marathi scholars and in Marathi books on Phule but these too are not easily accessible.

“I visited every nook and corner in Pune to meet elderly persons who had any knowledge vis-à-vis Fatima Shaikh. But I hardly got anything in writing i.e. any evidence which can be used as reference in the book… Unlike Fatima Shaikh, there are plenty of materials and books available on Savitribai Phule and we know basic things about her… Savitribai used to write what she would do; therefore many things are available in writing with regard to her works. And, as she has mentioned about Fatima Bi several times, we also know about her. But, the unfortunate thing is that Fatima Bi herself did not write about herself and her works,” the scholar said in a podcast in 2022.

Not just Shaikh, the lack of archival records and written material, especially on women, is something several scholars have faced and have written about in detail. So, at best, Mandal’s half-baked claims on Fatima Sheikh’s (lack of) existence only highlight this issue.

The post ‘Activist’ Dilip Mandal’s claim that Fatima Sheikh is a ‘non-existent’ character is a travesty of historical truth appeared first on Alt News.

This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Oishani Bhattacharya.

With former U.S. President Donald Trump returning to the White House for a second term, we speak with Pakistani author and columnist Fatima Bhutto. Bhutto is an award-winning author and writes a monthly column for Zeteo on world affairs. She criticizes Kamala Harris’s campaign for relying heavily on celebrity endorsements and vague appeals to “joy” while silencing dissent on Gaza as the Biden administration continues backing Israel. “You don’t need to be a man to practice toxic masculinity, and you don’t need to be white to practice white supremacy,” says Bhutto.

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

Mohammed is one of at least 56 journalists who were assaulted or harassed by security forces or unidentified citizens while covering the #EndBadGovernance demonstrations in Nigeria, one of several countries across sub-Saharan Africa that have experienced anti-government protests in recent months.  

In Kenya, at least a dozen journalists have been targeted by security personnel during weeks of youth-led protests since June, with at least one reporter shot with rubber bullets and several others hit with teargas canisters. Meanwhile, Ugandan police and soldiers used force to quash similar demonstrations over corruption and high living costs, while a Ghanaian court banned planned protests.

Globally, attacks on the press often spike during moments of political tension. In Senegal, at least 25 journalists were attacked, detained, or tear gassed while reporting on February’s protests over delayed elections. Last year, CPJ found that more than 40 Nigerian journalists were detained, attacked, or harassed while reporting on presidential and state elections. In 2020, at least a dozen journalists were attacked during the #EndSARS campaign to abolish Nigeria’s brutal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police unit.

CPJ’s documentation of the incidents below, based on interviews with those affected, local media reports, and verified videos and photos, are emblematic of the dangers faced by reporters in many African countries during protests – and the failure of authorities to prioritize journalists’ safety and ending impunity for crimes against journalists.

All but one of the journalists – a reporter for government-owned Radio Nigeria – worked for privately owned media outlets.

July 31

• In western Lagos State, police officers harassed Bernard Akede, a reporter with News Central TV, and his colleagues, digital reporter Eric Thomas and camera operators Karina Adobaba-Harry and Samuel Chukwu, forcing them to pause reporting on the planned protests at the Lekki toll gate.

August 1

• In Abuja, police officers arrested Jide Oyekunle, a photojournalist with the Daily Independent newspaper, and Kayode Jaiyeola, a photojournalist with Punch newspaper, as they covered protests.

• In northern Borno State, at least 10 armed police officers forcefully entered the office of the regional broadcaster Radio Ndarason Internationale (RNI) and detained nine members of staff for five hours. Those held said that police accused them of publishing “fake news” in the arrest documentation and RNI’s project director David Smith told CPJ that the raid was in response to the outlet’s reporting via WhatsApp on the protests.

The detained staff were: head of office Lami Manjimwa Zakka; editor-in-chief Mamman Mahmood; producer Ummi Fatima Baba Kyari; reporters Hadiza Dawud, Zainab Alhaji Ali, and Amina Falmata Mohammed; head of programs Bunu Tijjani; deputy head of programs Ali Musa; and information and communications technology head Abubakar Gajibo.

• In Abuja, police officers threw tear gas canisters at Mary Adeboye, a camera operator with News Central TV; Samuel Akpan, a senior reporter with TheCable news site; and Adefemola Akintade, a reporter with the Peoples Gazette news site. The canisters struck Adeboye and Akpan’s legs, causing swelling.

• In northern Kano city, unidentified attackers wielding machetes and sticks smashed the windows of a Channels Television-branded bus carrying 11 journalists and a car carrying two journalists.

The journalists were: reporters Ibrahim Ayyuba Isah of TVC News broadcaster, whose hand was cut by glass; Ayo Adenaiye of Arise News broadcaster, whose laptop was damaged; Murtala Adewale of The Guardian newspaper, Bashir Bello of Vanguard newspaper, Abdulmumin Murtala of Leadership newspaper, Sadiq Iliyasu Dambatta of Channels Television, and Caleb Jacob and Victor Christopher of Cool FM, Wazobia FM, and Arewa Radio broadcasters; camera operators John Umar of Channels Television, Ibrahim Babarami of Arise News, Iliyasu Yusuf of AIT broadcaster, Usman Adam of TVC News; and multimedia journalist Salim Umar Ibrahim of Daily Trust newspaper.

• In southern Delta State, at least 10 unidentified assailants opposed to the protest attacked four journalists: reporters Monday Osayande of The Guardian newspaper, Matthew Ochei of Punch newspaper, Lucy Ezeliora of The Pointer newspaper, and investigative journalist Prince Amour Udemude, whose phone was snatched. Osayande told CPJ by phone that they did not make a formal complaint to police about the attack because several police officers saw it happen, but added that the state commissioner for information, Efeanyi Micheal Osuoza, had promised to investigate. Osuoza told CPJ by phone that he was investigating the matter and would ensure the replacement of Udemude’s phone.

August 3

• In Abuja’s national stadium, masked security forces fired bullets and tear gas in the direction of 18 journalists covering the protests, several of whom were wearing “Press” vests.

The journalists were: Premium Times reporters Abdulkareem Mojeed, Emmanuel Agbo, Abdulqudus Ogundapo, and Popoola Ademola; TheCable videographer Mbasirike Joshua and reporters Dyepkazah Shibayan, Bolanle Olabimtan, and Claire Mom; AIT reporter Oscar Ihimhekpen and camera operators Femi Kuku and Olugbenga Ogunlade; News Central TV camera operator Eno-Obong Koffi and reporter Emmanuel Bagudu; the nonprofit International Centre for Investigative Reporting’s video journalist Johnson Fatumbi and reporters Mustapha Usman and Nurudeen Akewushola; and Peoples Gazette reporters Akintade and Ebube Ibeh.

Kuku dislocated his leg and Ademola cut his knees and broke his phone while fleeing.

• In Abuja’s Wuse neighborhood, unidentified men robbed Victorson Agbenson, political editor of the government-owned Radio Nigeria broadcaster, and his driver Chris Ikwu at knifepoint as they covered a protest.

August 6

• In Lagos State, unidentified armed men hit four journalists from News Central TV and their vehicle with sticks. The journalists were News Central TV’s Akede, camera operator Adobaba-Harry, reporter Consin-Mosheshe Ogheneruru, and camera operator Albert David.

Abuja police spokesperson Josephine Adeh told CPJ by phone on August 16 that police did not carry out any attacks on the media and asked for evidence of such attacks before ending the call. She also accused CPJ of harassing her.

Police spokespersons Bright Edafe of Delta State and Haruna Abdullahi of Kano State told CPJ that their officers had not received any complaints about attacks on the press.

Lagos State police spokesperson Benjamin Hundeyin referred CPJ to the state’s police Complaint Response Unit, where the person who answered CPJ’s initial phone call declined to identify themselves and said they had no information about attacks on journalists. CPJ’s subsequent calls and messages went unanswered.

CPJ’s repeated calls and messages to Borno State Commissioner for Information Usman Tar requesting comment were unanswered.

See also: CPJ’s guidance for journalists covering protests  

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Evelyn Okakwu.

This content originally appeared on CounterPunch.org and was authored by Josh Frank.

CPJ also calls on Embaló to guarantee that journalists will be allowed to work without state intimidation, as these incidents occurred amid heightened political tension over the past three months. 

On November 30, 2023, soldiers from the country’s national guard, a security unit perceived as loyal to the opposition-controlled parliament, exchanged fire with the military in events that Embaló said were part of an attempted coup. On December 4, Embaló announced he was dissolving parliament. Following the dissolution, armed men raided the offices of the state-owned television and radio stations, and Embaló reportedly ordered government officials to monitor radio broadcasts for “insulting content.”

“It is deeply worrying that Guinea-Bissau’s media have been intimidated through armed raids and public threats at precisely the time when they need to be reporting the news freely and offering the public diverse viewpoints on an unfolding political crisis,” said Angela Quintal, head of CPJ’s Africa program. “President Umaro Sissoco Embaló must withdraw his statements threatening the media and desist from abusing state resources to protect himself from criticism. Authorities should also investigate December raids on public media and other attacks on the press.”

Armed raids on state broadcasters

On December 4, about 30 armed men dressed in military uniform raided the state-owned broadcaster TVGB and the state-owned radio station Radiodifusão Nacional (RDN), according to media reports and two journalists who witnessed the events and spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal. The men, whose faces were covered with hoods, ordered the broadcasting to stop and all the journalists to leave the office.

Both stations remained off the air for a few hours, according to those sources, which said that the men ordered an unknown number of technicians to stay and broadcast music. Later that evening, they ordered the technicians to play an unedited evening news segment on the dissolution of parliament, which included a statement from the council of ministers.

The journalists returned to the station on December 5, when Tcherno Bari, the head of Guinea-Bissau’s presidential guard, arrived at RDN  with three armed military officers and told journalists that the presidency had not been responsible for the raid or the interruption of programming the day before, attributing the incidents to an unspecified “other force,” according to two journalists, who were in the newsroom when Bari visited and spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.

Bari told RDN staffers that they could continue working without fear, according to the journalists.

Bari told CPJ via messaging app that “as head of security of the presidency, he could not offer any comment” when asked about his role with the radio station. In November 2022, Bari was part of a group that reportedly abducted and beat a radio commentator.

Later on December 5, Mama Sané, who served as the RDN director under a past government, went to the radio station’s offices with two police officers, announced that he was taking charge as director once more, and ordered the suspension of that evening’s news programming, according to the journalists.

The following day, he told the station’s heads in a meeting that he was under presidential orders to bar critical voices because of the political situation, which he described as an “atypical context.”

Sané told CPJ that “when I referred to the ‘atypical context,’ I had the safety of journalists in mind” based on his past experience with privately owned radios during political crises, adding that when he returned to RDN, they were “inciting violence through some of the interviews it made that were deviating from what a public medium should do.”

When CPJ asked for details on the interviews, Sané said he didn’t want to give specifics.

Threats by President Embaló

Embaló instructed Guinea-Bissau’s interior ministry to create “brigades to listen to radio programs” and “bring in anyone who insults anyone” so that they can be put in “[their] place” during a January 2 speech, according to two journalists who were present and spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal, and Vatican-owned news website Vatican News, which included a recording of the President’s remarks. 

On January 23, Embaló accused journalists of appearing to be part of the “opposition” and vowed to “end the anarchy that has seen anyone become a political commentator” on radio, according to news reports and four journalists who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing safety concerns.

The president’s remarks accentuated the dangers and tension experienced by journalists in Guinea-Bissau, António Nhaga, chair of the local professional association Order of Journalists (OJGB), told CPJ.

“We have people in uniform involved in beatings, and now they have a license from the president to beat journalists. It’s dangerous,” Nhaga said. “The political class already sees journalists as the enemy. Journalists are underpaid, are beaten sometimes, so of course, the media in the country is dying. What do I tell young journalists?”

On February 8, presidential communication advisor Yonhite Tavares barred Fátima Tchuma Camará, a local correspondent with the Portuguese public broadcaster RTP, from covering an event at the country’s presidential palace, according to Indira Baldé, an RTP journalist and president of the local union Guinea-Bissau Journalists and Media Technicians (SINJOTECS), and another journalist who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.

Tavares said she was acting on the orders of the president, who was upset by Camará’s and Baldé’s public remarks during a demonstration by journalists for press freedom, Baldé said.

“I was told by a colleague…that the president said I am also barred from covering events at the Presidential Palace or the airport for the president’s travels while he is president of the country,” Baldé added.

When reached via messaging app, Tavares defended the president’s decision to CPJ by saying that in January, they had more than four incidents of international media outlets “deliberately misrepresent[ing]” the president in “untruthful reports” they “failed to correct.”  “The president has the right to ask for a change in the people covering so that it doesn’t get worse,” Tavares added.

When asked about the deteriorating environment for the media, Tavares said the government has been working to improve relations with journalists for “more than three years” and attributed the problem to journalists who want to “play active politics.”

“We don’t forbid the station from covering the news, but the people who want to go into politics should put down their journalist cards and join their parties instead of misrepresenting information without ethics or deontology,” Tavares told CPJ.

Online harassment

Recent incidents of online harassment against members of the press have further made the media environment “hostile and suffocating” since December 2023, Baldé told CPJ.

On December 2, Olho Clínico Guine-Bissau, a Facebook page with over 6,300 followers that is run by users who claim to support Embaló, posted a rape threat against Baldé, and threatened to assault Waldir Araújo, the head of the RTP bureau in Guinea-Bissau, according to CPJ’s review of the post. 

CPJ counted at least 12 posts published on January 26 on Abel Djassi, another Facebook page run by users who claim to support Embaló with over 3,600 followers, attacking the credibility of Baldé and Camará and denigrating them using sexualized language. A January 27 post on this same page accused Baldé and Camará of being mouthpieces for the opposition. 

Baldé told CPJ she does not plan to report the incidents to police. “There’s no point in pressing charges (about the online harassment) in Guinea-Bissau because crimes against journalists are not investigated,” she told CPJ, pointing to the March 2021 beating of journalist António Aly Silva and February 2022 raid of the offices of Radio Capital FM.

When asked about the accounts and content, Tavares told CPJ that the president and his family suffer daily “vile attacks” online and “on the formal mediums where these ‘political journalists’ work,” adding that the presidency cannot be responsible for the online threats against the journalists.  

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

On August 22, the city prosecutor in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, applied to the courts to liquidate Kloop Media because the foundation’s charter allegedly did not list media activity among its statutory activities. Kyrgyzstan’s civil law code allows for the liquidation of legal entities by a court decision if they “systematically” conduct activities inconsistent with the purposes set out in their charters.

The application also alleged that Kloop’s publications included “sharp criticism” of the authorities, demoralized the public, and aimed to incite a revolution. The application did not state whether the outlet or its staff would face separate prosecution in relation to these allegations.

Kloop received notice of the application on Monday, August 28, according to the outlet’s lawyer, Fatima Yakupbayeva, who told CPJ that the outlet can only file a complaint against the application if the court declines to take the matter to trial. Yakupbayeva added that Kloop’s reporting was represented in the foundation’s charter under activities such as the “analysis of current affairs” and the provision of an “information platform” for the free expression of opinions on socio-political and economic developments.

Kloop’s chief editor, Anna Kapushenko, told local media that the prosecutor’s claims were unfounded and described the lawsuit as part of a “long chain” of repressive actions by present authorities against rights defenders and the press.

“Kyrgyz authorities’ application to shutter Kloop is an outrageous and deeply cynical attempt to stifle some of Kyrgyzstan’s most probing investigative journalism, including investigations of alleged corruption involving leading state officials,” said Carlos Martínez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director, in New York. “Authorities should immediately withdraw this application and stop their campaign of pressure against the independent press.”

Kloop, a local partner of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project global investigative network, frequently publishes investigative and fact-checking articles critical of Kyrgyz authorities.

Bektour Iskender, co-founder of Kloop, told CPJ by phone he believed the shuttering application could be related to an August 22 investigation by Kloop alleging that relatives of both the Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and the head of the country’s State Committee for National Security were involved in the construction of a soccer academy in Kyrgyzstan connected to the Spanish soccer club Barcelona. 

On August 26, Japarov sharply criticized the article, saying that outlets like Kloop “bring only harm and no benefit to the Kyrgyz.”

The application also cites a State Committee for National Security investigation, opened in November 2021, into Kloop’s publications that allegedly made public calls for the violent seizure of power.

Yakupbayeva said Kloop had no further information about that investigation. Making public calls for the violent seizure of power online is punishable by three to five years in prison under Article 327 of Kyrgyzstan’s criminal code.

The application quoted opinions from several court experts—officially designated by the state for their testimony to be used in court—gathered as part of that investigation who accused Kloop’s publications of containing “hidden manipulation of social opinion” and who said the outlet’s “constant negative statements” and “false or discrediting information” provoked “dissatisfaction” and “distrust” for authorities and could lead to instability and revolution.

CPJ’s message to the president’s press secretary and emails to the State Committee for National Security did not receive any replies. CPJ’s email to the Bishkek City Prosecutor was returned due to a full inbox.

In November 2022, Kyrgyz authorities deported anti-corruption reporter Bolot Temirov. Authorities also blocked Radio Azattyk, the local service of U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, for nine months from October 2022, and restored their access following the removal of a report from the outlet’s websites.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

The list of suspended news outlets that PCIN shared with CPJ includes TV stations Canal San José, NGTV, and Canal RB3, as well as radio broadcasters Radio Darío, Radio Sky, Radio La Guarachera, Radio Vos, Radio San Carlos, Radio Hermanos, Radio Nuestra Señora de Lourdes, Radio Nuestra Señora de Fátima, Radio Allens, Radio Monte Carmelo, Radio San José, Radio Stereo Santa Lucía, Radio Stereo Sol, and Radio Stereo Fe. Other suspended news outlets asked not to be publicly named, according to Cristopher Mendoza, a representative of PCIN, who spoke with CPJ via phone.

At least 12 of the suspended radio stations were owned and managed by the Catholic church in the northern region of the country, Mendoza said.

On August 1, the regulator, the Instituto Nicaragüense de Telecomunicaciones y Correos (Telcor) suspended seven radio stations under the direction of Bishop Rolando Álvarez, the head of the Matagalpa diocese, according to Mendoza and a report by Reuters.

Álvarez was placed under house arrest after a raid on his home on August 19, according to CNN and a statement from the Nicaraguan police, which Nicaraguan news website Confidencial published on its site and posted on Twitter. The bishop is facing a criminal investigation for “destabilizing and provocative activities,” according to the police statement.

In announcing the closure of the seven radio stations on August 2, Telcor said the stations “did not meet the technical requirements to be on the air,” but it did not specify the requirements, according to Reuters.

In addition to providing religious programming, these radio stations served rural communities with local and national news, according to Mendoza. “For these communities, this was the only contact they had with what was happening at a national level,” he said.

On August 12, Telcor ordered the suspension of operations of Radio Darío, an independent news and opinion radio station in the northwest city of León, according to station owner Anibal Toruño, who spoke with CPJ over the phone, and a public statement by Telcor that Toruño shared on his Twitter account.

Toruño told CPJ that Telcor argued that official records contained incorrect information about the radio station, including the station’s address, the make and model of the transmitter, and the radio frequency. Toruño said that the address and transmitter had changed after the radio station’s headquarters were burned down in 2018, and staff had to move to another building and buy new equipment, as CPJ has documented.

“We notified the authorities about all of this. This is simply an excuse to silence us,” Toruño told CPJ.

On August 15, two other stations owned by Toruño, Radio Sky and La Guarachera, which broadcast music, also had their licenses revoked, according to news reports and Toruño.

CPJ sent an email to Telcor requesting comment, but did not receive any response.

CPJ has documented the Nicaraguan government’s ongoing crackdown against the press since a wave of protests in spring 2018, including imprisonments, criminal proceedings, raids on news outlets, criminal defamation charges, and physical attacks. At least one journalist was killed while covering protests in April 2018.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.