(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is an 8 May 2002 IFJ press release: The IFJ denounces a campaign of intimidation and terror against journalists in Togo The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the world’s largest journalists’ organisation, condemns the increased persecution of and threats against Togolese journalists. Koffi Augustin Amégah, publisher of Reporter des Temps Nouveaux, […]
(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is an 8 May 2002 IFJ press release:
The IFJ denounces a campaign of intimidation and terror against journalists in Togo
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the world’s largest journalists’ organisation, condemns the increased persecution of and threats against Togolese journalists.
Koffi Augustin Amégah, publisher of Reporter des Temps Nouveaux, has been in hiding since 18 April 2002, following the Togolese police’s setting off of a genuine “manhunt” against him. Mr. Amégah is being sought by the authorities following his newspaper’s publication of comments by a soldier who condemned the seizure of 2,000 copies of La Tribune du Peuple, which is close to the opposition. Despite Mr. Amégah’s denial of any wrongdoing, the Togolese police appear determined to obtain a forced confession from him concerning his assumed sources.
Mr. Kodjo Afatsao Siliadin, publication director of La Tribune du Peuple, also faces serious threats. The seizure of his weekly was ordered by the Togolese interior minister, General Sizing Walla, after Mr. Siliadin was accused of writing “disparaging remarks” (according to Article 108 of the new Togolese Press Code) in an article published in his newspaper’s 4 April 2002 edition. In the article, the author criticised the attack by Togolese Armed Forces soldiers on a blacksmith accused of theft.
“The seizure of the newspaper and the threats to Kodjo Afatsao Siliadin’s and Koffi Amégah’s lives are a flagrant violation of press freedom and the free exercise of the journalism profession,” stated Aidan White, the IFJ’s General Secretary. “This cycle of repression and terror targeting journalists is unacceptable.”
These obstacles to the right to inform are not isolated incidents either. There have been several other cases in recent weeks in Togo. On 8 April, hundreds of copies of Motion d’Information newspaper were seized. The next day, 9 April, thousands of copies of the publication Le Regard were also confiscated.
The IFJ firmly condemns the Togolese government’s conduct, urges it to stop seizing newspapers and put an immediate end to the threats weighing against journalists Kodjo Afatsao Siliadin and Augustin Amégah. These attacks on the press, which encourage self-censorship by the media, pose a challenge to Togolese citizens’ fundamental right to freedom of expression.
The IFJ is the world’s largest journalists’ organisation, with 500,000 members in 103 countries.
