Seychellois campaign for free independent radio, 2006
The Republic of Seychelles is a small island nation in the Indian Ocean, east of Tanzania. The Seychelles People’s Progressive Front (SPPF) has held power in the Republic of Seychelles since their coup d’etat in 1977. Despite laws that nominally provide freedom of speech to the people, SPPF has carefully controlled the media through the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) and with steep licensing fees for independent television and radio stations. Additionally, the law allowed for civil lawsuits to punish journalists for “libel.”