(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the minister of the interior, General Sizing Walla, RSF protested the detention of Alphonse Nevamé Klu, publication director of the weekly “Nouvel Echo”. RSF urged the minister to release the journalist immediately. “Even if a journalist makes a mistake that undermines a person’s honour or esteem, arresting him in […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the minister of the interior, General Sizing Walla, RSF protested the detention of Alphonse Nevamé Klu, publication director of the weekly “Nouvel Echo”. RSF urged the minister to release the journalist immediately. “Even if a journalist makes a mistake that undermines a person’s honour or esteem, arresting him in order to obtain information about his sources constitutes an attack on press freedom,” stated Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general. RSF recalled that in a document published in January 2000, the United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of expression noted that as punishment for the peaceful expression of an opinion, imprisonment constitutes a “serious human rights violation.”
According to information collected by RSF, on 13 October 2001, having received a summons, Nevamé Klu went to the offices of the Ministry of the Interior. He was immediately held for questioning at the Lomé police station, where he continues to be detained. The police are demanding that he disclose his sources. He is accused of publishing an article which reported that a government official is allegedly hiding “several billion” CFA Francs in his basement.
During his detention, the journalist admitted to writing his article based on rumours that he did not check for authenticity. Following a request by the minister of the interior, he then published an official retraction, which was also broadcast on public radio and television stations.
