2 March 2006

Alert

Printing press raided, damaged; newspapers seized, burned; television station shut down; FM radio stations' operations impeded


Incident details

Chaacha Mwita, Ayub Savula, Dennis Onyango

(AFMF/IFEX) - In a draconian move unprecedented in the history of the media in independent Kenya, authorities have arrested three journalists working for the second largest selling daily, "The Standard", seized and burnt copies of the 2 March 2006 issue, disabled the newspaper's printing press, confiscated equipment including computers and shut down a broadcasting station, Kenya Television Network (KTN). Two other journalists face threat of arrest by police.

In a coordinated raid carried out on the night of 1 March, police moved into the building housing the television station in central Nairobi and shut down the station. Around the same time another raid was carried out, on the printing press in Nairobi's industrial area. It is thought the reason for the raid was a story published by the newspaper last week which claimed that President Kibaki had had a secret meeting with one of Kenya's opposition leaders. The police action came two days after Information and Communication Minister Mutahi Kagwe issued a warning against media abusing press freedom. Kagwe has also ordered FM stations operating in and around Nairobi to move their transmitters out of the capital.

The three journalists arrested, editor Chaacha Mwita and writers Ayub Savula and Dennis Onyango, have not been charged in court as of 11:30 a.m. (local time) on 2 March.



Source:

Africa Free Media Trust


 

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