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Misanet.com / IPS, 9 May - Private newspapers in Togo have witnessed an upsurge in the clampdown on their publications by the police. On order of the Minister of the Interior, General Sizing Walla, almost 72,000 copies of seven opposition-leaning weeklies were impounded in April. - Total damages are estimated at 12 million CFA francs (around 18,293 Euros), according to Reporters Without Borders, a non-governmental organisation which protects journalists around the world. "Such losses are quite large for weeklies with few circulation (3,000 copies on average), which have already been bled dry and are trying desperately to compete with state-run papers," the organisation said in a recent statement. Copies of the weeklies 'La Tribune du Peuple' and 'Motion d'Information' were confiscated on 3 and 10 April, and on 9 and 16 April, respectively. The 9 and 16 April editions of 'Le Regard' and the 22 April issue of 'Combat du Peuple' were also seized. Officials from the affected newspapers were notified of the seizure, but no reasons were given. Walla used Article 108 of Togo's press code to justify his decision. The article read, "The minister in charge of the Interior and Security may, as part of his police brief, order the seizure of copies of any publication being sold, distributed, or circulated among the public whose content constitutes an offence ..." Justifying his actions, Walla said, "Journalists, who are required to provide objective information, are not respecting their professional ethics. They are inciting people to riot and are attacking the Republic's institutions. The Article gives us the right to reprimand the press and we plan to use it." The Togolese Media Protection Agency says the minister's action "fetters the liberty of the press guaranteed in Togo's constitution of September 1992." Article 26 of the constitution stipulates that "freedom of the press is recognised and guaranteed by the state." Elias Hounkali, of 'La Matinee', a pro-government daily, deplores the failure of some Togolese journalists to respect their professional code of ethics. "The seizure of papers is lamentable, but one must emphasise that some of our colleagues are guilty of breaking that code." Journalists from several African countries attending an investigative journalism seminar in Cotonou, Benin expressed concern about the state of the Togolese press. "The seizure of newspapers is a violation of economic, social, and cultural rights," they said in a joint statement. The Association of Publishers of Private Newspapers in Togo had harsh words against the seizure of newspapers and the "crusade against the distributors of private papers." It claimed that the distributors of private newspapers are being persecuted and that street vendors in Lome were hounded and beaten during the police seizures. The association accused the Togolese government of intending "to do away with press freedom in Togo. Such arbitrary seizures are all the more scandalous since the minister himself could not precisely tell us what crimes the papers were guilty of," wrote John Holonou Hounkpati, the association's president. Veteran Togolese journalist, Atsutse Kokouvi Agbobli, describes the seizure of the papers as "an act of desperation by government." Ekoue Satchivi, a journalist with the weekly 'Carrefour' adds: "We feel that the authorities in Togo do not want pluralist press in the country." - We're aghast at the seizure of papers and the closing of private radio stations, especially that of Radio Victoire, Agbobli adds. "The station was closed down in Feb 2002 and its equipment confiscated for no reason by the Minister of the Interior. Also, Radio La Voix de l'Oti (northern Togo) was banned from broadcasting for non-payment of taxes," he laments. Journalists from the affected papers say most of the seizures occurred after publication of a confidential letter from Dahuku Pere, of the ruling Union of Togolese People (RPT), to other party officials. In the letter, Pere, former Speaker of the National Assembly, criticised "intolerance at the heart of the (ruling) party." According to the Minister of the Interior, neither the author nor the persons addressed in the letter asked the newspapers to publish it. "It's a grave attack on the dignity and conscience of private individuals and we won't stand for it," Walla warned. - Every year in Togo, several thousand copies of private newspapers are seized, confiscated, or simply destroyed by the police, says Robert Menard, secretary general of Reporters Without Frontiers, who called on the government to review Togo's Press Code. The private press in Togo is too poor to publish on a daily basis. The weeklies that continue to exist are struggling to survive. One of the oldest newspapers, 'Crocodile', has not been on the newsstand for several weeks because of financial difficulties. In addition, journalists are often threatened or intimidated and some have gone underground. Augustin Amegah, managing editor of 'Reporter des Temps Nouveaux', was arrested on 29 April as he was visiting his wife, who had just given birth. He was held in custody for several hours before being released. He was accused of publishing an "article in which police officers were quoted." On 17 April, the High Authority for Audio-Visual and Communications, an official agency, which regulates the media in Togo, banned the publication of the weekly, 'Nouvel Echo'. According to the agency, the manager of the paper, Klu Nevame, had failed to attach his police record with his application for a license for the weekly, although the newspaper has been publishing for three years. Given the gravity of the situation, the secretary general of the Union of Independent Journalists of Togo (UIJT), Daniel Lawson-Drackey, has suggested talks between journalists and the Minister of the Interior in a bid to iron out their differences.
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