**Updates IFEX alert of 16 February 2000** (CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is shocked by the eighteen-month jail sentence handed down to Johann Wandetto, a reporter for the daily “The People” newspaper, based in Kitale, Rift Valley Province. Wandetto was charged in the magistrate’s court on 15 February 2000 with publishing an “alarmist report” in the 6 […]
**Updates IFEX alert of 16 February 2000**
(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is shocked by the eighteen-month jail sentence handed down to Johann Wandetto, a reporter for the daily “The People” newspaper, based in Kitale, Rift Valley Province.
Wandetto was charged in the magistrate’s court on 15 February 2000 with publishing an “alarmist report” in the 6 March 1999 edition of “The People”. The article, titled “Militia men rob eight crack unit officers: Shock as Moi’s men surrender meekly,” claimed that elite presidential guards had been ambushed by militiamen in the remote West Pokot area of the country. Witnesses from the presidential guard denied this.
The magistrate’s court also charged Wandetto with publishing false news. This was in connection with an article (date unavailable) in which he had quoted a minister in President Moi’s government who called for the posthumous trial of Jomo Kenyatta, the first president of Kenya, for alleged “crimes” committed during his presidency. The minister denied calling for such a trial. In view of this, according to local journalists, the authorities considered Wandetto to be a nuisance and he was therefore punished with a “deterrent” sentence.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the attorney-general:
– strongly condemning the eighteen-month jail sentence, without the option of a fine, imposed on Wandetto
– expressing the view that the incarceration of Wandetto is completely unjustifiable, without commenting on the content of the article in question
– noting that the intended effect of the sentence is clearly to intimidate journalists
– pointing out that this violates all journalists’ rights to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, as guaranteed by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 9 of the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights, all to which Kenya is a signatory
– urging him to order the immediate and unconditional release of Wandetto, and to do everything in his power to ensure that journalists in Kenya are free to carry out their profession without fear of similar reprisals
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:Mr. Amos Wako
Attorney-General
Nairobi, Kenya
Fax: +254 744 289Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
