{
  "title": "Incidents: detention and violence in Africa, national level",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?continent=africa&tactic=detention_and_violence&level=national",
  "filters": {
    "continent": "africa",
    "tactic": "detention_and_violence",
    "level": "national"
  },
  "sort": "date",
  "count": 5,
  "page": 1,
  "pages": 1,
  "per_page": 50,
  "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.",
  "facets": {
    "country": [
      {
        "value": "EG",
        "label": "Egypt",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 169,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 169th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "ET",
        "label": "Ethiopia",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 148,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 148th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "NG",
        "label": "Nigeria",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 112,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 112th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "ZA",
        "label": "South Africa",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 21,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "TN",
        "label": "Tunisia",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 137,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 137th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      }
    ],
    "continent": [
      {
        "value": "africa",
        "label": "Africa"
      }
    ],
    "tactic": [
      {
        "value": "detention_and_violence",
        "label": "Detention and violence",
        "count": 5
      },
      {
        "value": "outlet_licensing",
        "label": "Licensing and closure of outlets",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "secrets_and_espionage_laws",
        "label": "Secrets and espionage laws",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
        "label": "Insult and defamation laws",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "prior_restraint",
        "label": "Prior restraint",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "stage": [
      {
        "value": "punish",
        "label": "Punish",
        "count": 3
      },
      {
        "value": "silence",
        "label": "Silence",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "eliminate",
        "label": "Eliminate",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "level": [
      {
        "value": "national",
        "label": "National",
        "count": 5
      }
    ],
    "outcome": [
      {
        "value": "reversed",
        "label": "Reversed",
        "count": 3
      },
      {
        "value": "ongoing",
        "label": "Ongoing",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "sustained",
        "label": "Sustained",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "leader": [
      {
        "value": "abiy-ahmed",
        "label": "Abiy Ahmed"
      },
      {
        "value": "adly-mansour",
        "label": "Adly Mansour"
      },
      {
        "value": "daniel-francois-malan",
        "label": "Daniel François Malan"
      },
      {
        "value": "kais-saied",
        "label": "Kais Saied"
      },
      {
        "value": "sani-abacha",
        "label": "Sani Abacha"
      }
    ],
    "era": [
      {
        "value": "2020s",
        "label": "2020s",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "2010s",
        "label": "2010s",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "1990s",
        "label": "1990s",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "1950s",
        "label": "1950s",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "year": [
      {
        "value": "1950",
        "label": "1950",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "1995",
        "label": "1995",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2013",
        "label": "2013",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2025",
        "label": "2025",
        "count": 2
      }
    ],
    "has_case": [
      {
        "value": "0",
        "label": "without a court case",
        "count": 5
      }
    ]
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "slug": "2025-ethiopia-arrests-journalists-sheger-fm",
      "title": "Ethiopia arrests at least six journalists including Sheger FM staff over election-year coverage",
      "occurred_on": "2025-09-03",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "ET",
      "country_name": "Ethiopia",
      "continent": "africa",
      "jurisdiction": "ET",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence",
      "tactics": [
        "detention_and_violence",
        "outlet_licensing"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "abiy-ahmed",
      "leader_name": "Abiy Ahmed",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The arrests came ahead of Ethiopia's national elections scheduled for 2026, after the Ethiopian Media Authority ordered Sheger FM to remove an August 29, 2025 broadcast it said was one-sided and incited violence.",
      "outcome": "ongoing",
      "outcome_on": "2025-09-22",
      "outcome_note": "Some journalists were granted bail while an appeal proceeded; the media authority's order against Sheger FM remained in force.",
      "stage": "punish",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 148,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 148th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Ethiopian authorities arrested at least six journalists between August and September 2025, including three from Sheger FM after the Ethiopian Media Authority ordered the station to delete a broadcast it accused of bias and inciting violence, ahead of national elections scheduled for 2026.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-ethiopia-arrests-journalists-sheger-fm"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2025-tunisia-record-journalists-jailed-decree-54",
      "title": "Tunisia's cybercrime decree pushes jailed-journalist count to highest since 1992",
      "occurred_on": "2025-01-16",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "TN",
      "country_name": "Tunisia",
      "continent": "africa",
      "jurisdiction": "TN",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
      "tactics": [
        "detention_and_violence",
        "insult_and_defamation_laws"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "kais-saied",
      "leader_name": "Kais Saied",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Decree-Law 54, issued by President Kais Saied in 2022 without a sitting parliament, criminalized spreading what authorities deem \"false news\" online, and by January 2025 had become the basis for jailing a record number of Tunisian journalists.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": null,
      "outcome_note": "Decree-Law 54 remained in force and continued to produce new prosecutions, which CPJ said brought jailed-journalist numbers to a record.",
      "stage": "punish",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 137,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 137th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "The Committee to Protect Journalists found at least four journalists imprisoned under Tunisia's 2022 Decree-Law 54 on cybercrime as of January 2025, including radio hosts Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaies, pushing the country's jailed-journalist count to its highest since 1992 under President Kais Saied.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-tunisia-record-journalists-jailed-decree-54"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2013-egypt-al-jazeera-journalists-jailed",
      "title": "Egypt arrests and later convicts three Al Jazeera journalists on terrorism-related charges",
      "occurred_on": "2013-12-29",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "EG",
      "country_name": "Egypt",
      "continent": "africa",
      "jurisdiction": "EG",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence",
      "tactics": [
        "detention_and_violence",
        "secrets_and_espionage_laws"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "adly-mansour",
      "leader_name": "Adly Mansour",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The Egyptian military's July 2013 removal of President Mohamed Morsi and the government's subsequent designation of his Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.",
      "outcome": "reversed",
      "outcome_on": "2015-09-23",
      "outcome_note": "President Sisi pardoned Fahmy and Mohamed on September 23, 2015; Greste had already been deported to Australia in February 2015 under a prisoner-transfer arrangement.",
      "stage": "punish",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 169,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 169th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2010s",
      "granularity": "anchor",
      "status": "historical",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Months after the military removed President Mohamed Morsi, Egyptian security forces arrested Al Jazeera English journalists Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed at a Cairo hotel; courts later convicted them of aiding a banned organization, and international pressure led to pardons.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-egypt-al-jazeera-journalists-jailed"
    },
    {
      "slug": "1995-nigeria-abacha-journalists-tribunal",
      "title": "Nigeria's military government convicts journalists by special tribunal over coup-plot reporting",
      "occurred_on": "1995-07-27",
      "occurred_on_precision": "month",
      "country": "NG",
      "country_name": "Nigeria",
      "continent": "africa",
      "jurisdiction": "NG",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence",
      "tactics": [
        "detention_and_violence",
        "secrets_and_espionage_laws"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "sani-abacha",
      "leader_name": "Sani Abacha",
      "issue_of_the_day": "An alleged March 1995 coup plot against General Sani Abacha's military government, which the journalists had reported on.",
      "outcome": "reversed",
      "outcome_on": "1998-06-15",
      "outcome_note": "The journalists were released in stages after General Abacha's death in June 1998 under his successor's government; their convictions were not vacated in the sources reviewed.",
      "stage": "eliminate",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 112,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 112th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "1990s",
      "granularity": "anchor",
      "status": "historical",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "A special military tribunal convicted four Nigerian journalists as accessories to a supposed 1995 coup plot after they reported on it, sentencing them to lengthy prison terms with no right of appeal, under the military government of General Sani Abacha.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1995-nigeria-abacha-journalists-tribunal"
    },
    {
      "slug": "1950-south-africa-suppression-of-communism-act",
      "title": "South Africa's Suppression of Communism Act lets the government ban publications and restrict individuals",
      "occurred_on": "1950-03-17",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "ZA",
      "country_name": "South Africa",
      "continent": "africa",
      "jurisdiction": "ZA",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint",
      "tactics": [
        "detention_and_violence",
        "outlet_licensing",
        "prior_restraint"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "daniel-francois-malan",
      "leader_name": "Daniel François Malan",
      "issue_of_the_day": "South Africa's National Party government, elected in 1948 on a platform of apartheid racial segregation, used the act to suppress the Communist Party of South Africa and, more broadly, organized political opposition to its policies.",
      "outcome": "reversed",
      "outcome_on": "1990-02-02",
      "outcome_note": "The government lifted bans on individuals and organizations under the act and its successors on February 2, 1990, as State President F. W. de Klerk began dismantling apartheid.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 21,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "1950s",
      "granularity": "anchor",
      "status": "historical",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Under Prime Minister Daniel François Malan, South Africa's parliament approved the Suppression of Communism Act in 1950, defining communism broadly enough to cover most opposition to apartheid. It let the government ban organizations and publications and forbid banned individuals from being quoted at all.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1950-south-africa-suppression-of-communism-act"
    }
  ],
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  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
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}