Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06COTONOU1227
2006-12-21 13:14:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Cotonou
Cable title:  

JOURNALISTS APPEAL FOR RELEASE OF IMPRISONED EDITOR AND

Tags:  PROV PHUM KPAO BN 
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VZCZCXRO1439
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHCO #1227 3551314
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211314Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY COTONOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9101
INFO RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1025
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
UNCLAS COTONOU 001227 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W:DBANKS, AF/PD:LBEDICHEK

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PROV PHUM KPAO BN
SUBJECT: JOURNALISTS APPEAL FOR RELEASE OF IMPRISONED EDITOR AND
REPORTER


UNCLAS COTONOU 001227

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W:DBANKS, AF/PD:LBEDICHEK

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PROV PHUM KPAO BN
SUBJECT: JOURNALISTS APPEAL FOR RELEASE OF IMPRISONED EDITOR AND
REPORTER



1. SUMMARY: Two professional media associations have publicly
appealed for the release of an editor and a journalist sentenced to
six months' imprisonment for defamation. The Minister of Justice
has announced that the two were legally sentenced after having
violated a law; journalists contend the two could have simply been
censured, forced to print a retraction, or fined instead of being
imprisoned. END SUMMARY.


2. Editor Clement Adechian and reporter Cecil Adjevi, both of the
minor daily newspaper L'Informateur, were sentenced to six month's
imprisonment for defamation December 1 and began serving their
sentences the same day. The conviction stems from an article
published October 29 written by Adjevi alleging that a bailiff
(identified by his initials) had defrauded a widow and had then
raped her to shame her into silence, and that friends of the bailiff
had quashed an investigation into the widow's complaint.


3. Bailiff Maxime Bankole filed a complaint against Adjevi for
having written the article and against Adechian for having run it
(even though Adechian reportedly fired Adjevi for having filed the
story without consulting with him or submitting it for editorial
review). Because neither was able to prove that the allegations of
rape were true, they were sentenced to six months in prison.


4. Both the National Council of Employers of Press and Audio-Visual
(CNPA) and the Union of Media Professionals of Benin (UPMB) called
for leniency, running a joint communiqu that acknowledged the need
for a responsible press, but arguing that imprisoning journalists
solely for their writings tarnishes the democratic image of Benin.
The Observatory of Deontology and Ethics in Media (ODEM) also
published a communiqu that called for more professional and
circumspect reporting, while also appealing to judicial authorities
(and to the aggrieved bailiff) for leniency.


5. Minister of Justice and government spokesman Abraham Zinzindohoue
stated December 18 that he was aware of the concerns of the media,
but noted that the judges had acted according to the law, and that
it would be inappropriate for the executive branch to attempt to
intercede with the judiciary. He also said that he was aware of
calls for the relaxation or scrapping of laws regulating the media,
but emphasized that the Beninese media would have to behave more
responsibly before this would be possible.


6. COMMENT: The issue at hand is whether the imprisonment of the
journalists is the best way to encourage the free-wheeling Beninese
media, which often play fast and loose with facts, to come to heel.
Some fear that Benin's image of a democracy with perhaps the freest
press in Africa will be tarnished. Previous transgressions of this
sort have often been resolved with a public apology and a formal
retraction. END COMMENT.

HOLTZAPPLE