The International Press Institute (IPI) has expressed grave concern for the state of media freedom in Ukraine after a court ruling forced one TV station off the air and limited the licences of another. At a hearing in Kiev on Monday, August 30, the two privately-run TV channels, TVi and 5 Kanal, were told their broadcast frequencies would be cancelled after the court found in favour of allegations of irregularities in the manner in which the stations were awarded their licences. As TVi had renewed all its licences in the contested application, the channel lost all its licences; 5 Kanal only lost the new licences it had been awarded, limiting its broadcast reach across the vast country. Senior executives from the stations, as well members of the National Board of Ukraine for Television and Radio, who awarded the licences, could all face criminal proceedings and ultimately prison sentences. The case now lies in the hands of the prosecutor-general.

Uganda's Constitutional Court has declared the country's criminal sedition offence, which has been used to prosecute journalists, unconstitutional. The ruling was based on a 2005 constitutional review petition filed by the East African Media Institute and CPJ International Press Freedom Award winner Andrew Mwenda over political radio commentary critical of the government. Mwenda told New York based press freedom group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that he faces 17 counts of sedition under Uganda's penal code. Several other journalists have been charged with sedition for critical coverage in recent years, but prosecutions were stayed pending the constitutional review, according to CPJ research. As recently as this month, authorities charged the editor of the online news site Uganda Record, Timothy Kalyegira, with sedition for articles that questioned possible Ugandan government involvement in the July 11 terrorist attacks in the capital, Kampala.