Four newspapers in the Republic of Congo have been "suspended" by order of the government. The media regulator ordered the suspensions of three Brazzaville-based papers – L'Observateur, Talassa and Le Trottoir – for four months. The fourth, Le Glaive, has been suspended for two months.
They are accused of publishing "seditious articles" - the reprinting of a piece in the pan-African magazine Afrique Education that referred to a letter by former defence minister Justin Lekoundzou about President Marien Ngouabi's 1977 assassination.
The regulator, the High Council for Freedom of Communication, is supposed to guarantee press freedom. In a televised statement, one of its officials, Gertrude Hobain Mongo, read out a series of charges against the suspended titles.
She accused them of manipulating opinion, disseminating false news, inciting violence and divisions, and defaming certain state officials.
Source:Reporters Without Borders