Togo
Copies of private Togolese newspaper seized

afrol News, 8 November - In a letter to General Sizing Walla, minister of the interior and security, Reporters without Borders (RSF) strongly protested the seizure of the most recent edition of the private weekly "Motion d'Information". 

- The seizure is an example of the Togolese authorities' ongoing campaign of harassment against the private press, stated Robert Ménard, the secretary-general of the French media watchdoc RSF.

- The 4 January 2000 Press Code reform, which allows the minister of the interior to seize a publication solely via notification, is being used as a basic means of censoring the opposition press, said Ménard. "As proof, in this particular instance, no explanation was offered." The media watchdogs asked that the code be revised.

According to information collected by RSF, all issues of the 29 October 2001 edition of the weekly "Motion d'information", which is close to the opposition, were seized in the days following its publication. 

The newspaper published a lead article about the anti-corruption commission's recent disclosures implicating President Gnassingbé Eyadéma's regime in the misappropriation of over one billion CFA Francs (over US$ 1.36 million; 1.5 million Euros). A Ministry of the Interior injunction ordering the seizure was sent to the newspaper's editorial office staff, without further explanation.

RSF recalled that "Motion d'information" director Folivi Ayika expressed concern in late October after his editorial office staff received telephone calls from individuals identifying themselves as agents from the Ministry of the Interior and the intelligence services. The callers asked the publication's director to go to the ministry's offices. 

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