Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for an end to
the growing crackdown on media and journalists in Tanzania, in which
investigative reporter Erick Kabendera remains in preventive detention more
than two months after his arrest, and harsh sanctions have just been imposed on
three online TV channels.
The
Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority imposed fines of approximately 2,000 euros on two online TV
channels – Kwanza TV, Millard Ayo TV and Watetezi TV on 27 September 2019 and
suspended one of them, Kwanza TV,
for six months.
Officially,
the three online TV channels were punished for failing to publish their
editorial policy statement and charter and for "misleading publication."
In Kwanza
TV's case, in line with a 2018 online media law that has been widely
condemned by press freedom defenders including RSF, which said it would
be fatal for
Tanzania’s blogosphere and news websites.
The law’s
draconian provisions include an obligatory registration fee of an average of
900 dollars a year.
However,
all three online TV channels are critical of John Magufuli, who has been
president since 2015 and is expected to seek re-election in 2020.
One of
Tanzania’s most influential online media outlets, Kwanza TV broadcast an exclusive interview with Tundu
Lissu, a lawyer and government opponent, and a documentary about him at the start of September, marking
the second anniversary of an attempt to murder him in September 2017.
Watetezi TV belongs to a coalition of Tanzania human rights
defenders and one of its reporters, Joseph Gandye, was detained for
two days in August for exposing police violence.
“Silence or persecution seems to be the only
alternative for media outlets and journalists that want to exercise a critical
role in Tanzania,” said
Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF’s Africa desk.
“No other country in the world has experienced such
a drastic decline in press freedom in the past four years. We urge the
Tanzanian authorities to come to their senses and, as a first step, to rescind
the sanctions on these three online TV channels and to immediately and
unconditionally release Erick Kabendera, who should not be in prison.”
Another
hearing is scheduled for tomorrow in Kabendera’s
trial, which has been delayed five times at the prosecution’s
request to allow further investigation. The charges against Kabendera, The Guardian’s Tanzania
correspondent, have already been changed three times and he is currently
accused of “economic crimes.”
He was
limping during previous court appearances and his health seems to have
been badly
affected by his imprisonment. RSF continues to call for his
release and his transfer to an appropriate centre for medical treatment.
Tanzania
is ranked 118th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2019 World Press Freedom Index after
falling 47 places since 2016, more than any other country in the world during
the same period. - Africa
No comments:
Post a Comment