(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has urged the authorities to do everything possible to protect Guy Mario Abalo, Radio France Internationale’s (RFI) correspondent in Togo, after he received death threats following the broadcast of a report about a corruption and fraud case implicating two former government ministers. The report aired on 25 March 2004. “The messages left […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has urged the authorities to do everything possible to protect Guy Mario Abalo, Radio France Internationale’s (RFI) correspondent in Togo, after he received death threats following the broadcast of a report about a corruption and fraud case implicating two former government ministers. The report aired on 25 March 2004.
“The messages left on Abalo’s answering machine on the same evening his report was broadcast are very worrying. They warn him that his report ‘will not go unpunished’ and that his ‘life is in danger.’ Some sources have led us to conclude that the calls may have come from young supporters of the politicians who were criticised by the journalist,” RSF said.
“Togo does not lead by example as far as press freedom is concerned. The country’s political leaders bear a great deal of responsibility for this situation through their idleness and poor attitude towards independent and international media outlets. This case provides fresh evidence of this problem,” the organisation noted.
Abalo’s story concerned an anti-corruption commission’s report about a real estate venture linked to the holding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit in the capital, Lomé, in 2000. The project, named Cité OAU 2000, was led by Saibou Samarou, then secretary of state for the private sector, and former housing minister Agboli Hope. Abalo reported that the two former ministers allegedly appropriated some buildings for themselves and may have accepted bribes from companies that were seeking building contracts in the project.
Several local newspapers, including “Le Combat du Peuple”, have tried to draw the Togolese authorities’ attention to the threats against Abalo by recalling the murder of RFI’s Abidjan correspondent, Jean Hélène, in October 2003 (see IFEX alerts of 23 January 2004, 4 December and 22 October 2003).
