Perilous times for journalists in Africa

[dArKeR]

These are perilous times for journalists working in Africa, where press freedoms are steadily losing ground and the threat of arrest, deportation and even murder is on the rise.

"Hardly a week goes by without a journalist being deported here ... or threatened elsewhere," said Herve Bourges, president of the International Union of the Francophone Press, in the Gabonese capital.

Journalists working in Africa often come from countries "where democracy functions, where freedom of expression is guaranteed," Bourges said, explaining why the wrongful imprisonment of journalists is particularly upsetting to the Western world.

Demanding the immediate release of AFP correspondent Rodrigo Angue Nguema, who is still being held in Equatorial Guinea, the press organisation's president was applauded by 160 worldwide representatives attending a conference of the Francophone press.

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=23354