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12 serve Ikonya’s lawyer with the required file of charges and evidence. PEN monitoring. Released Mburu MUCHOKI: editor of the private tabloid weekly The Independent, was sentenced by a court in Nairobi on 6 March 2007 to one year’s imprisonment for libelling the Kenyan Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister, Martha Karua. The conviction related to a 2004 story entitled ‘Karua’s father in abortion scandal’ that also alleged an affair between Karua and a Catholic priest. Muchoki was fined 500,000 shillings (5,500 Euros) - 25 times the maximum allowable fine for libel – or one year in prison. He was unable to pay the fine and was held in a prison in an industrial zone in Nairobi. Muchoki’s lawyer claimed that the outcome of the trial was influenced by the fact that the presiding judge is a close friend of the justice minister and says he intended to appeal. Karua has reportedly never denied the allegations made against her by The Independent. It is understood that she won an earlier ruling against Muchoki for the same story, but the judgment of 25 million shillings (US$361,000) in civil damages was later invalidated because the prosecution did not follow proper procedure. Update: Muchoki was released in June 2007 on a presidential pardon. His appeal was never heard. LIBERIA Attacked *Jonathan PAYLELAY and Alphonso TOWAH: correspondents for the BBC and Reuters respectively, were assaulted by the bodyguards of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf on 21 September 2007, and removed from the interview area for alleged ‘breach of protocol’. The journalists, together with other local and international reporters, had gathered at Roberts International Airport in Monrovia to cover a visit by the Sierra Leonean president. Later that day, the Presidential Press Secretary met with the journalists and apologised for the behaviour of the State Security personnel. *J. Rufus PAUL: journalist for the Daily Observer, based in Monrovia, was beaten and briefly arrested by the National Police and the Drug Enforcement Agency on 31 August 2007, while he was attempting to follow a police operation without authorisation. The police was carrying out a raid on a building in central Monrovia, which was believed to be a centre of drug-related activities. Paul, who is a resident of that area, tried to cover the story after neighbours told him about the raid. He was confronted by an officer, and despite identifying himself as a reporter, his camera was taken away, and he was handcuffed and taken to the police headquarters, along with the people arrested during the raid. On his arrival, Paul was taken to the Deputy Police Commissioner for Crime Services, who apologised for the actions of the police officers. MALAWI On trial Robert JAMIESON, Dickson KASHOTI and Arnold MLELEMBA: owner, editor and reporter respectively for the newspaper Chronicle, were reportedly arrested in Lilongwe on 8 May 2006. The detention stemmed from a Chronicle article that claimed that Attorney-General Ralph Kasambara and Charles Simango, Director for the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) in Malawi, had taken part in a deal involving a stolen computer. The three were granted bail on 9 May and ordered to stand trial on criminal charges for the defamation of Kasambara. PEN is seeking further information. MALI Suspended sentence – Appealing Diaby Makoro CAMARA and Oumar BOUARÉ: director and editor respectively of the private monthly Kabako, were handed criminal defamation convictions on 5 March 2007 by a court in the capital, Bamako, as a result of a December 2006 story that criticised a government minister. They were sentenced to four-month suspended terms, fined 50,000 CFA francs (US$100) and ordered to publish the court decision. The charges stemmed from a defamation suit brought by Planning and Land Development Minister Mariamantia Diarra on 19 February 2007 over a story headlined “Consumed by jealousy: Marimantia Diarra raids his ex-fiancée with the police,” which described Diarra’s alleged attempts to stop the wedding of his former fiancée, to another man by sending policemen to surround her house with the intention of assaulting her. It has been reported that the ruling was politically motivated due to the influence of Diarra, secretary-general of the former ruling party ADEMA and an ally of President Amadou Toumani Tour. Camara and Bouaré reportedly planned to appeal. As of 31 December 2007, a hearing date had yet to be set. Hameye CISSE, Seydina Oumar DIARRA, Ibrahima FALL, Alexis KALAMBRY and Sambi TOURE: editor for Le Scorpion, journalist for Info-Matin, editor for Le Républicain, editor for Les Echos and editor for Info-Matin respectively. On 14 June 2007 Diarra was arrested along with a teacher on charges of ‘offence against the head of state’. The charges followed the publication of an article by Diarra published in Info-Matin on 1 June and entitled ‘Lycée Nanaissa Santara: the President’s Mistress’, on an essay topic set relating to a hypothetical presidential sex scandal. Following the detention of Diarra and the teacher, other newspapers reprinted the story and on 20 June, Cissé, Fall, Kalambry and Toure were summoned to the state prosecutor and immediately arrested on charges of ‘complicity in an insult against the president’. The five journalists and the teacher appeared at a closed trial on 26 June where they were given suspended prison sentences and fines (Diarra 13 days – equivalent to the time he had spent in detention; Touré eight months and a fine; Cissé, Fall and Kalmabry three months and a fine). The journalists planned to appeal against their sentences. As of 6 December 2007, the appeal was still pending. MAURITANIA Sentenced – On Appeal Abdel Fettah Ould ABEIDNA: Managing editor of the daily Arabiclanguage newspaper Al-Aqsa, was sentenced to one year in prison for defaming a local businessman on 7 November 2007. In a 16 May article, Abeidna had linked businessman Mohamed Ould Bouammatou to a recently uncovered large-scale cocaine racket in which a number of politicians had been implicated. According to RSF, the article did not present very firm evidence. The editor was detained in Nouakchott for four days from 24 May on defamation charges brought against him by Bouammatou and was granted bail on 28 May. On 7 November 2007, Abeidna was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment and a fine for making false allegations against Bouamatou with the intention of harming his reputation. He was also ordered to publish the sentence in the four newspapers in the area. The editor, who was out of the country when the judg-
ment was ruled, is reportedly appealing against his conviction. PEN is seeking an update. Attacked *Elvaka OULD CHEIBANY: correspondent in the Northern city of Noudhibou for the privately owned daily Nouakchott Info, was physically attacked by two bodyguards of the President’s wide, Khatou Mint El Boukhari, on 28 August 2007. The journalist was confronted by the guards while at a car rental agency, told to step outside and beaten up without any explanation. Chiebani reportedly believes that the attack could be linked to a story on the growing power of the first lady and her disagreements with the press. On trial *Sidi Mohamed OULD EBBE: editor of the privately owned daily El Bedil Athalith, was charged with ‘libelling the first lady’ on 18 August 2007, and faces a prison sentence. The lawsuit reportedly stems from two articles in which it was alleged that the wife of President Sidi Ould Cheik Abdallah, Khatou Mint El Boukhari, had used her position to secure funding for a charity she heads. The newspaper subsequently apologised to Boukari, as they realised their information was inaccurate, but the charges were not dropped. After being questioned by the State Prosecutor, the editor was due to appear before the Nouakchott criminal court on 22 August 2007. On 28 August, it was reported that the court had postponed proceedings in this case indefinitely. NIGER Investigation *Ibrahim MANZO DIALLO: publisher for the weekly privately-owned newspaper Aïr Info (previously Infos de l’Air), is on trial for alleged links with an armed rebel group. Manzo was arrested at an airport on 9 October 2007, when he was about to travel to France. He was held by the General Directorate for External Security (the Nigeriforeign intelligence agency), and interrogated by the police, on suspicion of links with Radio France Internationale (RFI). RFI was temporarily suspended from broadcasting in Niger in July 2007 due to its reporting on the country’s Tuareg rebellion. On 29 October, Manzo was charged with criminal association, for alleged links with the Niger People’s Movement for Justice (MNJ), a rebel group which operates in the northern area of Niger, and was placed in pre-trial detention in Agadez prison. No date was set for his trial. A few months before, on 12 July 2007, Manzo had been questioned and briefly detained at the headquarters of the National Gendarmerie. Security agents questioned him for an hour, and released him once they had verified registration papers to re-launch his newspaper, which had been suspended. Still detained as of 28 December 2007 PEN is seeking further information. Brief detention *Ibrahim SOULEY and Soumana Idrissa MAIGA: managing editor and founder respectively, of the bi-monthly publication L’Enquêteur, were arrested and detained for several days by the Niamey Criminal Investigation Department on 4 and 5 December 2007 respectively, after the Minister of Economy and Finance filed a libel complaint against the newspaper. On 7 November, both appeared before the Office of the State Prosecutor at the Niamey Special Magistrates Court, and were released on bail. The case is thought to be linked to 19 November 2007 articles reporting alleged mismanagement by the Ministry. *Daouda YACOUBA: correspondent for Aïr Info, was arrested, at home in Ingall on 25 October 2007 and taken to Agadez. Yacauba was placed in a police cell with Ibrahim Manzo Diallo, the editor of Aïr Info, who had been detained since 9 October (see above). Yacouba helps Manzo run the newspaper, and in the latter’s absence had been in charge of publishing the previous day’s issue of Aïr Info, on 24 October. Yacouba said that he was questioned by the authorities about his reporting on the rebel group Mouvement des Nigériens pour la Justice (MNJ). Yacouba was held for six days before being released without charge on 31 October 2007. Threatened *Hamadou BOULAMA (“Tcherno”), editor-in-chief of the bi-monthly independent newspaper Alternative, was reportedly threatened with unspecified harm on 26 October 2007. An anonymous caller told Boulama’s secretary that the editor had been writing about him and that he would not settle his grievance in court but via an attack. The reason for the threat was not clear, but could be related to articles on the 2009 presidential elections. On trial *L’Evènement, Canard Déchaîné and L’Action: three Niamey-based independent weekly newspapers, have been charged with publishing false information which could affect the honour of the Libyan President Colonel Mouammar Gaddafi. The charges were brought by Gaddafi himself. The editors of these newspapers could face imprisonment for up to three years, as well as damages. The newspapers reportedly referred to alleged financial and logistical support on the part of the Libyan president for the rebel group Mouvement des Nigériens pour la Justice (MNJ). Hearings were scheduled for September 2007. PEN is seeking further information. NIGERIA Brief detention *James GARUBA and Michael OLABODE: reporters for the newspapers Tribune and This day respectively, were harassed by the governor of the northern state of Borno in mid October 2007. The journalists were arrested by the State Security Service twice in one week during raids on a series of newspapers. The harassment followed the publication of articles criticising alleged extravagant spending by the governor, who had reportedly bought lavish gifts for his supporters at Ramadan. During the second arrest, Garuba and Olabode were held for several hours, before being released on the condition that they report to the security service headquarters on a daily basis. Attacked *Tope ABIOLA: deputy editor of the privately owned daily newspaper Nigeria Tribune, was beaten by prison guards on 11 September 2007, while trying to cover the repercussions of a riot at Agadi prison in Ibadan, Oyo state, south-western Nigeria. Some 40 prison inmates had been killed the previous day when prison guards suppressed a riot. Abiola was attempting to count the bodies and take photographs of the police removing them from the prison when prison guards and police officers attacked him, beating him until he lost consciousness. It was reported that he was later hospitalised, but his life was not in danger. 13
Page 1 and 2: INTERNATIONAL PEN Writers in Prison
Page 3 and 4: Contents List of cases by country 4
Page 5 and 6: CHAD On Trial *Nadjikimo BENOUDJITA
Page 7 and 8: Hadas Eritrea, has been published.
Page 9 and 10: the country since their release. Ho
Page 11: sionally to several magazines. He a
Page 15 and 16: year, on 8 March, Diop and another
Page 17 and 18: elongings were taken by his attacke
Page 19 and 20: of 29 individuals allegedly targete
Page 21 and 22: magazine, and an hour later a bouqu
Page 23 and 24: Juan Carlos HERRERA ACOSTA: journal
Page 25 and 26: problems in Matanzas. Prior to his
Page 27 and 28: while driving his motorcycle in Uru
Page 29 and 30: taken away by the police after the
Page 31 and 32: US$320,000 fine on “aggravated de
Page 33 and 34: ferred to Beijing where he was held
Page 35 and 36: On 3 February 2005 Li was initially
Page 37 and 38: line between 2000 and 2002. Details
Page 39 and 40: ZHANG Jianhong (aka Li Hong) D.o.b.
Page 41 and 42: Topa Re-education Through Labour Ca
Page 43 and 44: police station and police claimed t
Page 45 and 46: Satta Daily. Reporteldy found dead
Page 47 and 48: City to receive treatment for heart
Page 49 and 50: AZERBAIJAN Main Cases Eynulla FATUL
Page 51 and 52: eport on the human-rights situation
Page 53 and 54: nary statement as unprofessional an
Page 55 and 56: produces Chugunka, a publication fr
Page 57 and 58: Basque Country since 1968. He regul
Page 59 and 60: number of others, since released, o
Page 61 and 62: appeal. He is currently free on app
Page 63 and 64:
publishing". Both cases will be hel
Page 65 and 66:
memory of Atatürk¨. Yetisgen is c
Page 67 and 68:
Ibrahim YILDIZ: journalists for Cum
Page 69 and 70:
went on to work for a number of ind
Page 71 and 72:
that are likely to disturb public o
Page 73 and 74:
*Ejlal QAVAMI Profession: Journalis
Page 75 and 76:
Brief Detention/Facing charges *Soh
Page 77 and 78:
Sentenced, suspended Driss KSIKES a
Page 79 and 80:
Al-Khaiwani has been under threat s
Page 81:
103. Hamid Himid . . . . . . . . .
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