MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd May, 2023) The authorities of a number of countries in Eastern and Southern Africa last year stepped up their attacks against media in order to cover up corruption and violation of human rights, human rights organizations said on Wednesday.
"Authorities across East and Southern Africa escalated their attacks against journalists and press freedom across the region to suppress reporting of corruption and human rights violations throughout 2022," the Media Institute of Southern Africa and Amnesty International said.
Attacks, harassment, intimidation and criminalization of journalism are among the most common negative phenomena that have been escalating in the eastern and southern countries of the continent, as the governments have been trying to silence journalists exposing corruption and other breaches of law, the statement added.
The statement was issued on World Press Freedom Day celebrated every May 3, ever since the UN General Assembly proclaimed the day as the media freedom annual celebration 30 years ago, in 1993.
