Togo: CPJ protests censorship and threats to private radio stations

IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

PRESS RELEASE/ALERT - TOGO

11 February 2005

CPJ protests censorship and threats to private radio stations

SOURCE: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 10 February 2005 CPJ press release:

TOGO: CPJ protests censorship and threats to private radio stations

New York, February 10, 2005 - CPJ is outraged at today's closure of the
private station Radio Lumière, as well as attempts by Togolese authorities
to intimidate private broadcasters that have protested the military's
appointment of the late President Gnassingbé Eyadema's son as leader.

Earlier in the week, officials cut FM transmissions of Radio France
Internationale (RFI), which resumed this morning. However, a France-based
RFI reporter remains in neighboring Benin after being denied a visa to enter
Togo, according to local sources.

Police today shuttered Radio Lumière in Aného, about 31 miles (50
kilometers) east of the capital, Lomé, seizing equipment and driving the
station's director into hiding, according to local sources. They said police
accused the station of inciting violence after it aired critical debates.

The crackdown comes after the death last weekend of Gnassingbé Eyadema, who
had ruled the country for 38 years, and the army's swift move to install one
of his sons, Faure Gnassingbé, as president in defiance of the constitution.
Parliament has since amended the constitution to legitimize the move, but
there has been a chorus of regional and international protest.

Local sources say private radio stations have been broadcasting critical
debates and interviews on the situation, drawing a number of threats from
the ruling authorities. Directors and news editors of private stations were
summoned today to a meeting at the media regulatory body, known by its
French acronym HAAC, during which a senior official from the Communications
Ministry threatened that the stations' licenses would not be renewed if the
outlets did not "work properly," according to one of the station directors.
An army spokesman also at the meeting told the radio stations that they must
immediately stop the critical debates.

CPJ sources said that four Lomé radio stations were targeted: Radio Kanal
FM, Radio Nana FM, Radio Nostalgie, and Radio Maria.

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to
safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit
http://www.cpj.org

For further information, contact Africa Program Coordinator Julia Crawford
(x112) at CPJ, 330 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10001, U.S.A., tel: +1 212 465
9344, fax: +1 212 465 9568, e-mail: [email protected],
[email protected], Internet: http://www.cpj.org/

The information contained in this press release/alert is the sole
responsibility of CPJ. In citing this material for broadcast or publication,
please credit CPJ.
_________________________________________________________________
DISTRIBUTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
EXCHANGE (IFEX) CLEARING HOUSE
489 College Street, Suite 403, Toronto (ON) M6G 1A5 CANADA
tel: +1 416 515 9622 fax: +1 416 515 7879
alerts e-mail: [email protected] general e-mail: [email protected]
Internet site: http://www.ifex.org/
_________________________________________________________________