{
  "title": "Incidents: secrets and espionage laws in Africa",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?continent=africa&tactic=secrets_and_espionage_laws&view=cards",
  "filters": {
    "continent": "africa",
    "tactic": "secrets_and_espionage_laws",
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  },
  "sort": "date",
  "count": 3,
  "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": "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": "ZW",
        "label": "Zimbabwe",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 124,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      }
    ],
    "continent": [
      {
        "value": "africa",
        "label": "Africa"
      }
    ],
    "tactic": [
      {
        "value": "secrets_and_espionage_laws",
        "label": "Secrets and espionage laws",
        "count": 3
      },
      {
        "value": "detention_and_violence",
        "label": "Detention and violence",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
        "label": "Insult and defamation laws",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "stage": [
      {
        "value": "punish",
        "label": "Punish",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "eliminate",
        "label": "Eliminate",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "level": [
      {
        "value": "national",
        "label": "National",
        "count": 3
      }
    ],
    "outcome": [
      {
        "value": "reversed",
        "label": "Reversed",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "sustained",
        "label": "Sustained",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "leader": [
      {
        "value": "adly-mansour",
        "label": "Adly Mansour"
      },
      {
        "value": "emmerson-mnangagwa",
        "label": "Emmerson Mnangagwa"
      },
      {
        "value": "sani-abacha",
        "label": "Sani Abacha"
      }
    ],
    "era": [
      {
        "value": "2020s",
        "label": "2020s",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2010s",
        "label": "2010s",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "1990s",
        "label": "1990s",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "year": [
      {
        "value": "1995",
        "label": "1995",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2013",
        "label": "2013",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2023",
        "label": "2023",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "has_case": [
      {
        "value": "0",
        "label": "without a court case",
        "count": 3
      }
    ]
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "slug": "2023-zimbabwe-patriotic-act-criminalizes-foreign-contact",
      "title": "Zimbabwe's Patriotic Act criminalizes journalists' contact with foreign governments",
      "occurred_on": "2023-07-14",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "ZW",
      "country_name": "Zimbabwe",
      "continent": "africa",
      "jurisdiction": "ZW",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws",
      "tactics": [
        "insult_and_defamation_laws",
        "secrets_and_espionage_laws"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "emmerson-mnangagwa",
      "leader_name": "Emmerson Mnangagwa",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The bill passed weeks before Zimbabwe's August 2023 general election, at a time when the government accused foreign-linked civil-society and media figures of working to undermine it ahead of the vote.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": "2023-07-14",
      "outcome_note": "President Mnangagwa signed the bill into law despite CPJ's call for a veto; a court challenge by journalists did not block it.",
      "stage": "punish",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 124,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed the Patriotic Act, which criminalizes meeting foreign governments or officials with intent to harm Zimbabwe's sovereignty, with penalties up to death for advocating armed intervention and up to ten years for supporting sanctions, weeks before the country's 2023 general election.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-zimbabwe-patriotic-act-criminalizes-foreign-contact"
    },
    {
      "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"
    }
  ],
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  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
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}