(WAJA/IFEX) – The following is a 22 April 2000 UJIT press release: Togolese private media under seige: An editor-in-chief is arrested and imprisoned, two others pursued, publications seized 1. On Thursday 13 April 2000, all copies of issue 27 of the weekly “l’Exilé” were seized by agents of the general information office of the national […]
(WAJA/IFEX) – The following is a 22 April 2000 UJIT press release:
Togolese private media under seige: An editor-in-chief is arrested and imprisoned, two others pursued, publications seized
1. On Thursday 13 April 2000, all copies of issue 27 of the weekly “l’Exilé” were seized by agents of the general information office of the national police force. The following day, Friday 14 April 2000, the director of the newspaper, Hippolyte Agboh, was arrested and incarcerated in the civil prison of Lomé.
The newspaper and its director are charged with having published “false information” according to which a daughter of the head of state, General Eyadèma, had died in a traffic accident. The newspaper was seized even before being distributed. Without commenting on the substance of the article in question, the UJIT makes the following remarks:
– It is not normal to evoke the publication of false news at a moment when the accused newspaper has neither been distributed or sold.
– The abusive preventive detention of journalists is an unjustifiable practice that the Togolese government continues to enforce.
– In modern states, defamation and violations of press laws are no longer the object of imprisonment, but rather of fines. The government of Togo continues to violate this principle.
– Journalists must answer for their writing and assertions before the tribunal when they are questioned by whoever it may be, but this must be done in civilised and modern forms conforming to universal principles of press freedom.
2. Following a complaint lodged by the Minister of Communication and Civic Training, Koffi Panou, against the weekly “Le Combat du Peuple” for violations of the press laws, the editor-in-chief of the weekly, Lucien Messan, is today being pursued by agents of the national police force in order to be captured and imprisoned before the trial. This has occurred despite the promise made by the national media organisations (UJIT, ATEP ….) that they would ensure that prosecuted journalists or press organs are prepared to present themselves adequately to the tribunal.
Since 18 April 2000, Lucien Messan must watch his step, fearing that he could be captured like a rabbit in the jungle. In addition, the editor-in-chief of the weekly “Le Nouveau Combattant”, Elias Hounkanly, has been sought by agents of the security forces since 20 February 2000 in an affair that has yet to be well explained.
The UJIT denounces once again this cavalier and retrograde manner by which the Togolese government brings journalists to answer for their writings.
3. For some time, the Minister of the Interior and some elements of the general information office of the national police force have organised untimely seizures of newspapers — notably, “Nouvel Echo” on 24 March, “La Nouvelle République” on 28 March, “Le Nouveau Combattant” on 29 March, “Crocodile” on 6 April, and “Akéklé” on 17 April.
These practices from another age contradict the press freedom recognised by the Togolese Constitution and Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “. . . the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media”.
However, the UJIT once again calls on all journalists to respect the professional code of ethics of our noble profession.
The UJIT invites the Togolese government to repeal the repressive administrative measures and all the prison sentences for violation of press laws contained in the new press code modified on 4 January 2000.
The UJIT calls on international organisations for human rights and the rights of journalists, Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters sans frontières, the West African Journalists Association, (WAJA), Freedom Forum, and the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) to intensify their pressure to bring the Togolese government to create a media space that respects the sacred principles of freedom of expression and freedom of the press.
Lomé, 22 April 2000
The Secretary General
Togolese Union of Independent Journalists (UJIT)
Gabriel Ayité Baglo
