Amnesty International calls in a press release published on Wednesday March 17 the authorities to “ quash the convictions against journalists Ferdinand Ayité and Isidore Kouwonou “. On the same day, the editor-in-chief of “L’Alternative” and the editor of the same newspaper were sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of three million CFA francs.
The Togolese authorities accuse Ferdinand Ayité and Isidore Kouwonou of having, in 2021, made outrageous remarks towards the Ministers of Commerce and Justice and disseminated false information in a program transcribed on Youtube.
For Samira Daoud, director of the West and Central Africa office of Amnesty International, this decision is ” a worrying signal against freedom of expression “. She condemns a condemnation “ very heavy and completely disproportionate “, which is not ” not in accordance with the principles of international law and human rights, which provide that the offenses of contempt and falsehood, even when they are characterized, should never be the subject of prison sentences. »
Togolese authorities have issued an international arrest warrant for the two convicted journalists, who are currently outside the country. Amnesty calls on the countries which would be concerned by this arrest warrant not to execute it, “ given the high risk for journalists of ending up in detention “, a detention that the NGO would consider “arbitrary” insofar as ” it is based on an extremely heavy sentence for simple press offences. »