(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Communications François Ibovi, RSF requested the release of Crepin Casino Mbeto, a correspondent with the weekly “Le Choc”, in Ouesso. The organisation recalled that in January 2000, Abid Hussain, the United Nations special rapporteur for freedom of opinion and expression, stated that “imprisonment for the non-violent expression […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Communications François Ibovi, RSF requested the release of Crepin Casino Mbeto, a correspondent with the weekly “Le Choc”, in Ouesso. The organisation recalled that in January 2000, Abid Hussain, the United Nations special rapporteur for freedom of opinion and expression, stated that “imprisonment for the non-violent expression of an opinion is a serious violation of human rights.” The organisation also recalled that Mbeto has been jailed for the past eleven days, whereas the legal limit for a preventive detention is seventy-two hours in Congo Brazzaville. RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard added that “it appears that (despite his jailing) no legal action has been launched against the journalist, contrary to Congolese law.”
According to information collected by RSF, Mbeto was arrested on 15 July, at his residence in Ouesso (in Congo’s far northern region). He was then taken to the city’s police station. The journalist is accused of having reported on confrontations between members of various police services at Ouesso’s airfield. The report appeared in issue 175 of his newspaper.
