WiPC is deeply dismayed to learn of the prison sentence handed down to
Lucien Messan, editorial director of the weekly "Le Combat du Peuple".
Messan was given an eighteen- month sentence (six months of which is suspended)
on 5 June 2001 for "falsehood and the use of falsehood."
The verdict was based on a denunciation by Interior Minister General
Walla that Messan, 55, had signed a press release put out by the Togolese
Private Press Publishers Association (l'Association togolaise des editeurs
de la presse privee - ATEPP). The release lambasted statements by the Togolese
prime minister to the effect that "publication directors were unanimous
in affirming that there have never been hundreds of deaths in Togo." The
statement also made it clear that ATEPP felt that the government had attempted
to use the private press for its own ends. Lucien Messan's son, Messan
S. Junior, the publication director of "Le Combat du Peuple", is the authorised
signatory of ATEPP statements.
This is not the first time that Messan, an outspoken critic of the Togolese
government, has been detained. In September 1998 he was arrested and accused
of "spreading false news."
Aside from the possible miscarriage of justice due to the confusion
of Lucien Messan with his son, International PEN is disturbed that a prison
sentence should be handed down for what amounts to a right to reply. It
calls upon the Togolese authorities to release Messan immediately and unconditionally.
[Sources: Reporters sans frontieres (RSF) and Independent Journalists
Union of Togo (UJIT)]
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Send appeals to the Togolese authorities: - expressing serious concern
over the verdict reached by the court - urging them to release Messan immediately
and unconditionally
APPEALS TO:
H.E. Ambassador to France Ambassade du Togo Paris, France Fax: +33 1
56 26 04 46
President Gnassingbe Eyadema Presidence de la Republique Residence Lome
II Lome, Togo Fax: +228 21 18 97
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
For further information, contact Dixe Wills, WiPC, International PEN,
9/10 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7AT, U.K., tel:
+44 207 253 3226, fax: +44 207 253 5711, e-mail: dixe@wipcpen.org, Internet:
http://www.oneworld.org/internatpen/
The information contained in this action alert update is the sole responsibility
of WiPC. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit WiPC.
