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Freedom of the Press 2016: Equatorial Guinea
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Freedom of the Press 2015: Equatorial Guinea
Ranked 190th in annual global media freedom report
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Freedom in the World 2014: Equatorial Guinea
Academic freedom constrained; self-censorship common
According to information collected by RSF, journalists from the independent press are verbally threatened by presidential guards and police on an almost daily basis. In addition, these journalists have difficulty finding seats in the courtroom, as journalists from the official press are given priority seating.
On 2 June, Rodrigo Angue Nguema, a correspondent for Agence France-Presse (AFP), the BBC and the PanAfrican News Agency (PANA), was unable to attend the trial's ninth hearing. Police officers and presidential security guards prevented him from entering the courtroom, allegedly because the journalist had used a sidewalk that the police had "sealed off", even though he showed his press card to police officers.
The previous evening, presidential security guards threatened to bar Nguema and Pedro Nolasco Ndong, president of the Equatorial Guinea Press Association (APSOGE), from entering the court if they continued to "have contact" with the accused. According to Nguema, he is seen as lending too much attention to the brutal treatment of the defendants.
On 29 May, police officers also confiscated the equipment of a photographer from the independent newspaper "La Opinion".
RSF previously expressed its serious concern about the constant deterioration in press freedom in Equatorial Guinea in a 23 May letter to the head of state. On 22 May, the vice-minister for information announced his intention to force foreign press correspondents to acquire official accreditation from the ministry. This temporary accreditation is to be mandatory and renewable "on a case-by-case basis" (see IFEX alert of 24 May 2002).
Ranked 190th in annual global media freedom report
Academic freedom constrained; self-censorship common