JOURNALISTS DETAINED AFTER ALLEGEDLY DEFAMING PRESIDENT'S

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COTONOU 000927

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KPAO BN
SUBJECT: JOURNALISTS DETAINED AFTER ALLEGEDLY DEFAMING PRESIDENT'S
FAMILY



1. (U) Summary: Police arrested and jailed three journalists
September 15 for violating the libel law and released them September

18. The three, from the newspaper La Diaspora de Sabbat, were
deemed responsible for an article alleging that President Boni
Yayi's elder son was mentally ill. The government may take further
action. Another journalist was put in jail for separate articles,
but also released September 19. Most commentators concede the
journalists violated Benin's code of professional ethics for
journalists, but also complain their arrest was precipitous and did
not follow the appropriate legal procedures for libel cases.
Another journalist arrested in an unrelated case was released on
September 19. End Summary.

Article About President's Son Triggers Arrests
-------------- -


2. (U) On September 15 the newspaper La Diaspora de Sabbat published
an article entitled "Hard Times in the Entourage of the Chief of
State: Eldest Son of Yayi Boni in State of Dementia." The article
alleged that the President had brought his son back from the United
States to help in affairs of state, but that the young man had lost
his reason, and after efforts by traditional healers to cure him had
failed, had been sent to a psychiatric clinic in Europe. A
prosecutor from the Tribunal of First Instance in Cotonou determined
that the article was defamatory and ordered the arrest of Director
of Publication Virgile Linkpon, Chief Editor Fulric Richard
Couao-Zotti, and the author of the article, Judicael Mauroy
Adikpeto. They were jailed September 15 and released September 18.

More Legal Steps Possible
--------------


3. (U) Various newspapers reported that there could be further legal
action against the three. They may be tried for libel and could
face legal sanctions, including imprisonment, if found guilty.
However, if President Yayi decides not to pursue the matter, they
can simply publish a public retraction and apology, and the matter
will be closed. (NOTE: There were several cases under former
President Kerekou where newspapers recanted after the office of the
Presidency threatened legal action. End Note.)

Journalists Were Wrong
--------------


4. (U) During a television program on government channel ORTB the
evening of September 17, Edouard Loko, former president of the
Office of Deontology and Ethics in Media (ODEM),stressed that the
incident could have been avoided if the journalists had followed the
professional code of ethics. Loko added that the article was a
serious offense, and he apologized to the President on behalf of all
journalists in Benin.


5. (U) Nevertheless, Loko warned that, if the journalists were
detained for long, it would tarnish Benin's image as the best
country in Africa in terms of freedom of the media. (The journalists
were released the next day.)

Irregular Procedure?
--------------


6. (U) Daily newspaper Le Matinal reported that the arrests were a
departure from the proper legal procedure in a libel case; the
reporters should have been ordered to appear for questioning and
trial for defamation. They should not have been arrested and jailed
prior to questioning and a trial. However, daily newspaper Le Point
au Quotidien published a lengthy editorial warning reporters about
violating the journalistic code of ethics. It argued the three
journalists had in fact violated the code, and that they should not
be surprised at what had happened to them.

A Paper With a Grudge
--------------


7. (SBU) The newspaper La Diaspora de Sabbat is reportedly owned by
a Beninese reggae musician, Sabba Nazaire, who is based in Germany.
Nazaire reportedly started the newspaper to get back at a
high-ranking police official in the Kerekou administration who
seized one of the vehicles he imported to Benin for not having gone
through customs, and also to attack a former Minister under Kerekou
who stole one of his wives. Post's media contacts claim the
newspaper specializes in defamatory articles; and allege it accepts
money for either printing or suppressing the stories.

Not the President's Son
--------------


COTONOU 00000927 002 OF 002



8. (SBU) In addition, the person referred to in the article in La
Diaspora de Sabbat is not one of the President's sons, but is
apparently a daughter of his current (second) wife by a previous
marriage. The young lady, now studying in France and who has never
held a position in her stepfather's administration, reportedly
suffers from periodic depression.

Another Reporter Jailed
--------------


9. (U) In a separate case, reporter Cyrille Saizonou of the
newspaper Djakpata was arrested September 15 and held in jail until
September 19. He published one article alleging widespread
corruption and theft of government funds in the police department,
and another alleging that an unnamed Minister in the administration
of former President Kerekou was a spy for a European company. He
was arrested after failing to provide any evidence to support the
allegations.

COMMENT
--------------


10. (SBU) The public and media acknowledge that some reporters in
the free-wheeling Beninese press (where individuals and various
entities often pay editors and reporters to either run or suppress
articles) sometimes crosses the line and may well be committing
libel. Nonetheless, prosecutors should abide strictly by legal
procedures in investigating such cases. Arresting or detaining
journalists only draws attention to the irresponsible articles in
low-circulation papers such as La Diaspora de Sabbat or Djakpata
that few otherwise would read -- and risks making Yayi's
five-month-old government look thin-skinned. End Comment.

BROWN