Editor arrested and falsely accused of writing article

(WiPC/IFEX) – The WiPC of International PEN is deeply concerned over the continued imprisonment of Claude Améganvi, editor of the journal “Nwayo”, currently serving a four month sentence. He has been charged with “distributing false information, defamation and disturbance of the public order” and is threatened with a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment. The […]

(WiPC/IFEX) – The WiPC of International PEN is deeply concerned over the continued imprisonment of Claude Améganvi, editor of the journal “Nwayo”, currently serving a four month sentence. He has been charged with “distributing false information, defamation and disturbance of the public order” and is threatened with a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment.

The charges brought against Améganvi relate to an article published in the weekly “Nouvel Echo” in August 2002, speculating on the alleged personal wealth of President Gnassingbé Eyadéma. It has since been discovered, however, that the author of the article is not Améganvi but, by his own admission, Eloi Koussawo, president of the political movement MO5. It has been suggested that because Koussawo is in exile and therefore beyond the reach of the Togolese authorities, his article has been used as a pretext for prosecuting Améganvi, an influential journalist, author and political leader.

Améganvi joins two journalists who have been prosecuted in the same case. Julien Ayi, publishing editor of “Nouvel Echo”, received a sentence of four months’ imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 CFA francs (approx. US$154) on 16 September. Meanwhile, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Alphonse Névamé Klu, has gone into hiding following the publication of the article and the subsequent issue of an arrest warrant in his name.

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His Excellency Ambassador to France
Ambassade du Togo
Paris, France
Fax: +331 56 26 04 46

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