Senior journalist jailed without charge

(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 22 March 2002 letter to the president of the Federal and Islamic Republic of the Comoros, Col. Azali Assoumani, CPJ expressed its deep concern over the fact that Comoran authorities continue to hold a respected independent journalist in jail for his work. On 10 November 2001, Izdine Abdou Salam, a host […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 22 March 2002 letter to the president of the Federal and Islamic Republic of the Comoros, Col. Azali Assoumani, CPJ expressed its deep concern over the fact that Comoran
authorities continue to hold a respected independent journalist in jail for his work.

On 10 November 2001, Izdine Abdou Salam, a host and director of programming for the private station Radio Karthala, was detained and interrogated by police officers in the capital, Moroni.

Salam was arrested after he hosted a call-in show on a constitutional referendum planned for the following month, CPJ sources said. Several callers attacked provisions in the draft constitution relating to the proposed new structure of the federal republic. Police seized tapes of the offending broadcast.

Many callers complained that under the new constitution, Grande Comore, the largest of the three Comoran islands, would enjoy more autonomy than Anjouan and Moheli. Some callers also questioned the moral integrity of members of the Comoran military regime, which sponsored the draft constitution.

Salam was accused of violating probation under an earlier conviction for defaming the prime minister. (Under the terms of his probation, Salam and Radio Karthala are forbidden to broadcast “political programs.”) As of 22 March, he remained in prison, more than four months after his arrest.

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