Common Enemy

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Tanzania Maxence Melo, The Winner of last year's International Press Freedom Award, is actually never before, to become a journalist.

Sixteen years, he was co-founder of Jamii forums, a website that exposed corruption and helped to push for Political Accountability - as an alternative to the mainstream news Media .

It has earned him worldwide recognition, which is what The Best of journalism. But in The Last three years, he has been to court 137 times and was detained overnight for his work.

It has not been easy: "It's exhausting, I have to be honest, it's exhausting, and there are times You feel like giving up," he told the BBC's Sammy Awami, in December.

trained as a civil engineer, Mr Melo

He started The Citizen journalism and whistle-blowing website Jamii forum in 2003, where the citizens engaged in free discussions about the problems of the Country .

The site became popular, and the success of his mission seemed to have rankled with the government.

Mr. Melo was arrested in 2008 on charges of terrorism, although the charges have been dropped. But it is not the end.

Seven years later, in Tanzania, the controversial cyber crime, adopted Act - sometimes forums known as the Jamii law.

The cyber crime law (2015) and the Electronic and Postal Communications Act (2010) were used to censor and limit criticism of the government, according to The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Jamii forums unsuccessfully against the laws in court.

journalists, Media and other players have fallen victim to these laws.

Maxence Melo has been in court More Than 100 published times in The Last three years,

The Tanzania Editors' Forum pointed out in 2018, which had at least five Newspapers and two radio stations, been suspended between three and 36 months.

a Freelance journalist Erick Kabendera arrest In July of 2019, first, to questions about his citizenship, later changed to the money laundering charges that drew international condemnation. His case was confronted in court, a number of delays and he has been since in custody.

Tito Magoti, 26, spent the festive days in custody after his arrest by The Authorities on 20. December in the main city, Dar es Salaam.

In 2016, He was accused of the obstruction of an investigation, when he refused to hand over The Details of the people who post on the site.

"We have driven a team of 18 lawyers,"

Jamii forums shut down for 21 Days , to meet in the year 2018, forced the hard new online content regulations.

Despite the brush with The Authorities , with a view to legal action and intimidation, Mr Melo remained unimpressed - and also found recognition.

training as a civil engineer, Mr Melo calls himself an "accidental journalist,"

He told the BBC that since the shutdown in The Past year, have You set had several lawyers, redo their editorial policy and engage more people to check all the posts on the site before they are published.

"We have a team of 18 lawyers. We had to rethink, restrategise, we had to welcome the University of Stanford, to check, to revise our strategies, our activities, and advise on better ways to do our job," he said.

Nevertheless, he said, the people can not speak freely.

"Initially, the people, the people could speak, they could do a little bit of the nature of the processing of the comments You post in the forum.

"You could have [a] call some officials and politicians, and they could comment on something. But at the moment, such opportunities are no longer available," he told the BBC.

'Drastic decline' for the freedom of the Media

He says that You have to talk to the lawyers, the sources, to assure You of your safety or privacy when You are attacked in any way for their contributions.

He complained about the "shrinking Media space" and are in the midst of a significant decrease in Tanzania, The Press freedom ranking.

In The Past year, The World Press Freedom Index, published by reporters Without borders (RSF), the Country 's 25 seats - 118 fell into The World .

"in No Other Country in The World to such a drastic decline in freedom of The Press in The Past four years, has experienced," the.

"Silence, or persecution, seems to be the only alternative for the Media and journalists who want to practise an important role in Tanzania. "

The government insists on the freedom of expression in the Country and says that journalists and commentators are free to do their job, unless they commit A Crime .

about Tanzania

The Jamii forums, co-founder, says that in his daily operations, he is well to note that several agencies, the regulation of the Media in Tanzania and its organisation to check what You post, More Than five times.

"We have the TCRA [Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority], The Police , the Council for the Media - they even have the rules for the online platforms, such as Jamii forums, the Ministry of infrastructure...

"as a part of the cyber crime Act, they find themselves in the midst of all of these different organizations or institutions, and we need to make sure that the type of content that we take to The Public is reviewed in fact, checked to ensure that it compliance with the laws of the Country . "

Working with government

He is worried about what this suggests for The Future , especially because of the elections this year.

He thinks 2020 might be better for freedom of The Press in Tanzania, but also to the fact that it is something "You can't predict much, as long as it is the year of elections".

"So it is a difficult time for us, it is a time of challenges for the industry... everyone is worried about what might happen in the upcoming elections. "

President John Magufuli is accused, with little tolerance for dissent

Despite the crackdown on journalists by the government in recent times, Mr. Melo believes that The Authorities are listening to.

"You see, the government might push You hard, and You need to push back and You should be strategic in order to understand who their true allies from the government. "

But he can also engage the challenges of the current administration, the Media and other critical voices, which he believes can all work together to fight the Common Enemy , which is corruption.

these are the players who have helped to put the cases of corruption, the President John Magufuli is currently.

"President Magufuli is a President , everyone thinks he is fighting corruption... I believe that if [he] is for real in the fight against corruption is, then he has to the Media . "

press freedom, tanzania

Source of news: bbc.com