(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Communications and Public Training Koffi Panou, RSF protested the 17 July 2000 seizure of thousands of copies of the weekly “Le Combat du Peuple”, in Lomé. The organisation asked to be informed of the motives behind the measure. Recalling that copies of “Le Combat du Peuple” were […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Communications and Public Training Koffi Panou, RSF protested the 17 July 2000 seizure of thousands of copies of the weekly “Le Combat du Peuple”, in Lomé. The organisation asked to be informed of the motives behind the measure. Recalling that copies of “Le Combat du Peuple” were previously seized on 5 June, RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard asked the minister to “respect the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Togo, which guarantees the unrestricted dissemination of information.”
According to information collected by RSF, close to 4000 copies of the 17 July edition of “Le Combat du Peuple” were seized from distributors and wholesalers. No explanation was provided by the minister of communication’s services, who launched the seizure.
Since 14 April, Lucien Messan, editor of the weekly “Le Combat du Peuple”, has been sought by the National Police, further to the filing of a complaint by the Ministry of Communications. The grounds for the complaint have not been made public.
RSF recalled that several other newspapers have also fallen victim to similar measures in recent months. As such, all the copies of “Le Nouvel Echo” were seized on 24 March. Copies of “La Nouvelle République” and “Le Nouveau Combattant” were seized on 28 and 29 March. “Crocodile” and “Scorpion” met the same fate, on 6 and 17 April, respectively. These seizures were ordered without any written notification having been addressed to the publications’ editors (see IFEX alert of 25 April 2000).
