Attacks on the Press - Committee to Protect Journalists

attacks on the press in 2009africa: zambiajournalist Moses Akena with libel over a story reporting allegations of local governmentcorruption, according to defense lawyer Judith Oroma. The Akena matterjoined the long list of cases that were stayed pending a Supreme Court rulingon the constitutionality of the charge.ZAMBIAPress freedom deteriorated in the first full year of rupiah banda’spresidency. Tensions mounted between Banda’s government and the leading independentdaily The Post. Politicized criminal charges were leveled at Post staffmembers concerning the circulation of photos that Banda labeled “obscene” butothers saw as a shocking look at a government health-care problem. Rulingparty supporters were tied to a series of attacks against The Post and otherjournalists.CPJ documented seven cases in which supporters of the ruling Movementfor Multiparty Democracy (MMD) harassed or beat Post reporters while theyworked. The Post claimed in a July report that the MMD had gone as far asassigning operatives to harass its reporters at state functions. The governmentsent mixed messages in response. While Banda and other officials condemnedthe attacks in one breath, they appeared to encourage hostility toward The Postin the next. “The Post newspaper is reaping what it sowed because you cannothave a newspaper that reports negatively about the republican president mostof the time,” Information Minister Ronnie Shikapwasha said at a May pressconference.The attacks targeted a range of media employees. A Post vendor, DeavenMwanamwale, was assaulted and his papers were confiscated in May in Solwezi,capital of North Westernprovince, the newspaper reported.In July, MMD supportersassaulted reportersfor The Post and the state-runTimes of Zambia who were atLusaka International Airportto cover a presidential trip toUganda, according to newsaccounts and the ZambianUnion of Journalists.Roughly 400 journalists,civil society members, andt o p developments»»Ruling party supporters behind assaultsagainst journalists.»»Government wages politicizedprosecutions against The Post.400key statisticEstimated turnout at ademonstration protestinganti-press attacks.students gathered the next month at Olympia Park in the capital, Lusaka, to protestthe violence, said Henry Kabwe, Zambia chairman of the Media Institute ofSouthern Africa. Vice President George Kunda assured the gathering that theassailants would be prosecuted, according to local journalists. Later that month,MMD Lusaka Youth Chairman Chris Chalwe was arrested on charges related tothe airport assault. The case was pending in late year.Banda, a government veteran and former vice president, succeeded PresidentLevy Mwanawasa, who died of a stroke in August 2008. Banda went on to winelection in his own right in October 2008, but his initial months in office weremarked by animosity toward the press. Banda appeared to take particular offenseto coverage in The Post. In February, addressing an MMD function, Bandaclaimed the daily was acting as an opposition movement, according to local newsreports. “The Post newspaper has attacked me from the time you chose me as yourpresidential candidate,” he was quoted as saying.Banda’s government took a broader swipe at press freedom in early year, announcingthat it would give press representatives six months to set up a self-regulatorybody or it would draft a media regulation bill with unspecified provisions.A group of state and private media representatives told the government it woulddraft a self-regulatory plan but would need considerably more time, Kabwe said.The issue was pending in late year.Other, progressive legislation was stalled. The Independent BroadcastingAuthority Act, which would create an independent broadcast regulator, and theZambia National Broadcasting Corporation (Amendment) Act, which wouldconvert the state-run broadcasting company into an independent public broadcaster,were passed by parliament in 2002 but never implemented. The MediaInstitute of Southern Africa and journalists called on the government to followthrough on the legislation, and urged parliament to act on a freedom of informationbill that was introduced several years ago.State-run media dominate in Zambia. The country has three dailies—twostate-owned and one independent—and three private weeklies. The broadcastingindustry has expanded, but the state-run Zambia National Broadcasting Corporationdominates the market due to its superior signal, local journalists told CPJ.Kabwe said the government typically places strict signal limitations on broadcastlicenses. Five private TV stations broadcast from the capital but their reachis limited. Roughly 30 local and community radio stations dot the countryside,but Radio Christian Voice and the state broadcaster have dominant signals. InSeptember, the Information Ministry denied a request from the private stationPhoenix FM to stream its broadcasts online.In November, a Lusaka magistrate acquitted Post News Editor Chansa Kabwelaon baseless obscenity charges in a case that drew international attention. Kabwela4 64 7