Africa’s highest court has reaffirmed the rights of journalists on the continent.
The African Court on Human and People’s Rights has made a seminal decision which "strongly re-affirms the obligation of countries to protect the rights of journalists to practice free from intimidation and harassment" according to Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA).
The Arusha-based court, the highest judicial body on the continent, also granted justice to the wife and family of the celebrated slain Burkinabe journalist, Norbert Zongo, who was murdered in 1998 as he investigated a case close to the presidency.
“The court held that the failure of a government to diligently seek and bring to account the persons responsible for the assassination of a journalist, intimidates the media, has a chilling effect on free expression, violates the human rights of journalists, endangers truth and should not be allowed,” the Nigerian-based Guardian newspaper reported.
For MFWA and its partners put pressure on the government of Burkina Faso to find and punish the killers of Zongo and the three murdered with him.
The verdict followed a complaint filed at the Court by Genevieve Zongo, wife of the deceased journalist through the support of a multi-national legal team from Burkina Faso, Senegal, Tanzania and Nigeria.
(C) Politico 10/04/14
