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[image:1,l] Le drapeau du Bénin (crédit: Shutterstock)
« Journalists are being silenced, the press is being muzzled and we no longer have the right to work or to denounce injustice. To hold on, you need to be part of the propaganda apparatus of the people in power.”
Porto-Novo, Benin (Ecofin Agency) – Journalist François Yovo, editor of the daily newspaper Libération, was released from prison last Friday, June 27, 2014. He had been imprisoned in Cotonou since May 17 after being sentenced to three months of imprisonment by default.
In November 2013, François Yovo was convicted by the Court of First Instance in a defamation case involving Idrissou Bako, Director General of the National Society for the Promotion of Agriculture (Sonapra). The sentence had not been carried out. Six months later, the journalist was arrested by police at the city hall of Cotonou, where representatives of the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication (HAAC) were being elected.
The media organizations denounced the circumstances of the arrest, seizing the opportunity to demand a Code of law governing information and communication that would provide Benin with coherent legislation. François Yovo was finally released after a hearing during which the charges against him were abandoned in court.
The day after this release, Reporter Without Borders issued a statement expressing concern about the deterioration of the status of press freedom in Benin. The NGO also recalled the court decision of June 26, sentencing John Akintola, managing editor of The Independent newspaper, to three years of imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 CFA francs (300 euros) for an article which « offended » the head of State Boni Yayi. The Cotonou court also sentenced the author of the article, Prudence Tessi, to two months in prison and suspended the newspaper for three months.
« Journalists are being silenced, the press is being muzzled and we no longer have the right to work or to denounce injustice. To hold on, you need to be part of the propaganda apparatus of the people in power. 400 trials are being held today against the press in Benin, » complained John Akintola, quoted by RSF.
Article translated by Malcolm Duff (www.htt.fr), a member of “Translators for Journalists”
The original article was published by Agence Ecofin
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The sole responsibility for the content of this article lies with the translator. Translated with the kind permission of the copyright owner.