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afrol News, 31 October - Lucien Messan, senior member of the Togolese press corps, has been pardoned by the head of state and released from prison. Another journalist, Alphonse Klu, however still remains jailed. The French media watchdog Reporters sans frontières (RSF) yesterday reported and welcomed the release of Messan, who had been detained since 23 May at the civil prison in Lomé. In a telephone conversation with RSF, Lucien Messan stated that the time he spent in prison "had not changed anything" and that he would be going back to work. He also denounced the conditions under which he was detained, saying, "We were 1,200 prisoners in a 60 square metre courtyard. If you don't have any money, you die. It was horrible. I didn't receive any visitors for over one month." On 5 June 2001, the Fourth Correctional Chamber of Lomé's Court of First Instance sentenced Lucien Messan to eighteen months' imprisonment with six months suspended for "falsehood and the use of falsehood." In reality, he was accused of having signed a press release of the Togolese Private Press Editors Association (Association togolaise des éditeurs de la presse privée, ATEPP) though he is not a director of the publication, according to RSF. Only his son, Messan S. Junior, director of Le Combat du Peuple, is authorised to sign ATEPP documents. The press release denounced the following statement from the Togolese prime minister: "The publication directors unanimously denied that hundreds of people were ever killed in Togo." The ATEPP accused the government of "trying to use the private press." According to RSF, Lucien Messan's arrest was orchestrated by the minister of the interior, General Sizing Walla. He ordered that legal proceedings be launched against the journalist. In August 2000, the journalist filed a complaint against the minister of the interior for "abuse of power," following repeated seizures of copies of Le Combat du Peuple. Lucien Messan, aged 55, is the dean of the Togolese private press. He is known as a journalist who is very critical of President Gnassingbé Eyadéma's regime. He was previously arrested in September 1998 and accused of "distribution of false news." RSF in a press release also was asking Togolese authorities to release Alphonse Klu, who is the last imprisoned journalist in the country. On 26 October, the director of Le Nouvel Echo was transferred to the civil prison in Lomé. Two weeks earlier, having been summoned, he went to the offices of the Ministry of the Interior. He was immediately placed in police custody at the Lomé police station. The police is demanding that he reveal his sources for an article in which he reported that a government official is allegedly hiding "several billion" CFA Francs in his basement. RSF has earlier claimed that, over the last ten years, Togolese authorities have detained thirty-four journalists. "More than ten of these have been convicted to several months of imprisonment." RSF claims the freedom of the press is under heavy attack in the small, West African country. This is sustained by independent sources. According to US government sources, the Togolese government and the security forces systematically restrict the freedom of the press, "often using investigative detention and criminal libel prosecutions to harass journalists and political opponents." In January 2000, laws were passed allowing for an extended imprisonment of journalists who write articles critical of the government and its officers. Sources: Based on RSF, and afrol archives
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