Comoros
Comoran editor in dubious libel lawsuit

afrol.com, 16 March - The French media watchdog Reporters without borders (RSF) today expressed its concern on the ongoing libel lawsuit against Comoran editor Allaoui Saïd Omar. His weekly magazine "la Gazette des Comores" had printed a statement by the exiled opposition, criticising a government close party leader. 

RSF informs that it has sent a letter of protest to President Colonel Azali Assoumani, head of the junta ruling in the Comoran capital, Moroni. The rights group expressed its "concern" about the lawsuit against Allaoui Saïd Omar and asked the head of state to "take the proper measures to insure that the journalist undergoes a just and equitable lawsuit". 

Allaoui Saïd Omar, which is the founder of the weekly Gazette magazine (July 1999), is also one of the founder members of the Comoran Human Rights Association. According to information collected by RSF, Allaoui Saïd Omar is being prosecuted by Mahamoud Mradabi, the president of the Shawiri party (close to the ruling party), for having published an official statement by the Comoran Opposition Union, exiled in Paris, on 8 March this year. The text included the demand that Mr. Mradabi should "be brought to the courts". The official statement also added: "Being allied to the mercenaries, Mradabi is also separatist: during the manifestation of 9 March 1999, he showed his true intentions, which are summarized in these words: violence, hatred, racism and the defence of his personal interests." 

Information gathered by RSF in Moroni points to several irregularities in the case against Allaoui. The organization is particularly concerned about the questioning of the lawyer of the journalist, Saïd Larifou, citizen of the French island of Reunion. On 15 March, during the first magistrate's court hearing, Allaoui's lawyer was forcefully removed from the court and placed in police custody in Moroni. 

- The court's president disapproved of my appointment in a case concerning a violation of the press laws, Saïd Larifou wrote in a letter to the president of the Bar Association of Saint-Pierre de la Réunion. "Following my insistence, he ordered my removal," Larifou wrote. The lawyer was released later on the same day, without any explanation. He thus returned to Reunion. The next court hearing is set for 14 April.

RSF points out that it does not protest the libel case on general terms. "Without coming to a conclusion about the background for this affair, our organization requires that the lawsuit against the director of the Gazette des Comores respects the international criteria in regard to legal procedure," specified Robert Ménard, the secretary-general of RSF.

According to a US government report, press freedom on Comoros is limited, though guaranteed for in the new Constitution. The best-known example of infringements of press freedom in the country is the government's action against former M.P. Cheik Ali Bacar Kassim in August 2000. Kassim, who owns the country's only independent radio station, Radio Tropique, and is a well-known opposition figure, was arrested for allegedly plotting to overthrow the Azali Government. Radio Tropique stopped broadcasting news for a week to protest the arrest of its owner, Cheik Ali Bacar Kassim.

There are two independent Comoran newspapers publishing regularly, one of them being the Gazette, the other l'Archipel - a weekly newspaper. These newspapers exist side by side with the semi-official weekly Al-Watwan. They have so far been observed criticising the government relatively freely, according to US sources. However, in October 1999, Aboubacar Mchangama, editor of l'Archipel, was arrested for not revealing the sources behind an article describing the bad state of the national army. Mchangama was charged with "spreading false news" but was released one week later.

Sources: RSF and afrol archives

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