(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 14 April 2004 letter to President François Bozizé, CPJ renewed its demand that imprisoned journalist Jude Zossé be immediately and unconditionally released. The organisation is also concerned that Zossé remains jailed despite the president’s 15 March pardon for non-violent prisoners. Zossé, publication director of the private daily “L’Hirondelle” (“The Swallow”), was […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 14 April 2004 letter to President François Bozizé, CPJ renewed its demand that imprisoned journalist Jude Zossé be immediately and unconditionally released. The organisation is also concerned that Zossé remains jailed despite the president’s 15 March pardon for non-violent prisoners.
Zossé, publication director of the private daily “L’Hirondelle” (“The Swallow”), was arrested on 25 February in connection with an article titled, “General Bozizé: the State’s Tax-collector”. He was sentenced on 12 March to six months in prison and fined 200,000 CFA francs (approx. US$380) for “insulting the head of state”.
The article, which originally ran on the news website http://Centrafrique-presse.com, alleged that after President Bozizé came to power in a March 2003 coup, he took over the collection of state tax revenue in the country, prompting two senior treasury officials to contemplate resignation. Centrafrique-presse.com is a France-based opposition website run by former president Ange-Félix Patassé’s spokesperson, Prosper N’Douba.
On 15 March, which marked his first year in power, the president granted a pardon for prisoners who had been convicted of crimes not involving violence or corruption. Zossé’s lawyers say they withdrew their appeal of his conviction so that he could benefit from the pardon. They are now being told that the matter must be decided by the Appeals Court. No date has yet been set for a hearing.
On 9 April, two gendarmes interrogated Zossé in his prison cell about an article in the 8 April edition of “L’Hirondelle” that accused the president of misappropriating treasury funds, according to Agence France-Presse. The article was reprinted from “Afrique-Educations”, a monthly published in France, and was clearly sourced. This interrogation has fuelled fears among local journalists that authorities may be seeking to keep Zossé in jail.
