Reflecting on 2014 particular this year, media workers were targeted while using their cameras, most often during demonstrations. This lead us to theme this year’s report, ‘photojournalists under fire.’ The year 2014 was a concerning year for media freedom the world over. As wars raged across the globe, governments lead the fight for information, seeking to control media messages through violence, intimidation, restrictive legislation and unfair arrests and sentences. On behalf of MISA, I express our outrage over the continued obstruction of media freedom and free expression in the SADC region, demonstrated by restrictive legislation, misuse of legislation like criminal defamation laws, unwillingness to pass positive media policies and legislation, and violations perpetrated against media workers and activists. This year, MISA is particularly outraged by the unreasonable sentencing of the editor of independent Swazi magazine The Nation, Bheki Makhubu and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko to two years in prison, without the option of a fine, on 25 July 2014 in Mbabane, Swaziland. The harsh sentence followed Makhubu’s and Maseko’s conviction on contempt of court charges on 17 July 2014, for separate news articles each wrote criticising the kingdom’s chief justice. The ruling is unreasonably severe and is clearly intended to send a message to those who might contemplate future criticism of Swaziland’s judiciary. A ruling such as this serves to instil self-censorship among Swazi journalists – as journalists fear the consequences of speaking out against the oppressive government. We were greatly encouraged in 2014 by the December 2014 ruling by the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, in 4 So This is Democracy? 2014 the case of Konaté v Burkina Faso, which found that prison sentences as penalties for defamation violate the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights ruled criminal defamation laws cannot include custodial sentences or sanctions that are disproportionate, such as excessive fines. This was a landmark ruling that will have far reaching impact on media freedom in the region as the judgment is binding on African Union member States. We note with disappointment, however, the continued use of archaic laws criminalising expression and impeding journalists from doing their jobs without obstruction or fear of being threatened or arrested. As we go to print, in 2015, we are calling on the government of Angola to respect this ruling and to uphold the right to free expression in the trial of Angolan journalist and human rights activist Rafael Marques De Morais. Angolan journalist and human rights activist, De Morais, is facing 15 libel charges, in addition to the nine charges for criminal defamation arising from a book published in 2012, Blood Diamonds: Corruption and torture in Angola. The book contains details of more than 100 killings and torture cases against civilians and small-scale miners at diamond mining fields in the Cuango region in Angola, allegedly carried out by security guards and members of the Angolan army. De Morais will face nine years in jail and libel fees of £800,000 (R14 333 246.69) if found guilty. Defamation still continues to be a crime punishable by imprisonment in Angola and under its 2006 Press law, journalists who criticise the government face grave reprisals. Despite Angola being a State Party to the African Charter on Human