   |
|
afrol.com, 29 March - In a letter sent to the Togolese Minister of Security and Home affairs, General Sising Walla, Reporters sans frontières (RSF-Reporters without borders) protested against the seizure of copies of the weekly Le Regard - a newspaper which has close ties to the opposition. The organisation asked for the seizure of newspapers to be stopped. Recalling that copies of six different newspapers were seized by the authorities during 2000, Robert Ménard, general secretary of RSF, urged the Minister to "respect the International Convenant on Civil and Political rights, ratified by Togo, Article 19 of which garantees, 'the freedom to seek, receive, and impart informations and ideas of all kinds'". According to information collected by RSF, on 27 March 2001, police officers seized an unspecified number of copies of the weekly Le Regard from newspaper vendors in Lomé. The newspaper's director claimed that none of the 3,500 copies put on the market were returned. General Walla, who ordered the seizure, reportedly accused the newspaper of publishing an article entitled "Lomé refuses the European Union's financial support for legislative elections" - scheduled for October - which he perceives as slanderous. According to Le Regard, the government seeks to "avoid controls by the EU, which would not provide financial support for elections which are turned into a 'hold up'." General Walla allegedly stated that "the newspaper has to present proof" to confirm the information contained in the article. The government's decision is rooted in the new Press Code, which includes the provision that "as part of his police powers", the Minister of Security and Home Affairs can "order the seizure of copies of any publication whose content constitutes a violation of the press law". Following the introduction of this amendment, six newspapers were seized during 2000. On 2 August, Le Combat du Peuple, an opposition weekly, lodged a complaint with the Supreme Court's Administrative Chamber against the Minister of Home Affairs, for "abuse of power". On 1 January, no decision had been taken on this complaint. On 7 August, the Togolese Association of Private Press Publishers (Association togolaise des éditeurs de presse privée, ATEPP) appealed for financial and moral support for the private press which, according to the association, is "the victim of a totalitarian tendency in the powers-that-be."
|
