Central African Republic August 19, 2004

H.E. Francois Bozize
President
Palais de la Renaissance
Bangui
Central African Republic

Your Excellency:

The July 8 arrest, prosecution and suspended prison sentence imposed on journalist, Maka Gbossokotto, for his alleged “public insults” are shocking. The Bangui court judges did not convict on the charge of libel, but they concluded that the journalist was guilty of the lesser charge of “public insults.” The suspended sentence included a one-year prison term and a fine equivalent to 750 euros.

Editor of the daily, Le Citoyen, and correspondent for Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Gbossokotto was arrested on a charge of libel brought against him by Jean-Serge Wafio, former head of the power utility company, Enerca, over Le Citoyen@quot;s claim that Mr. Wafio had embezzled company funds. Mr. Wafio was dismissed after the article appeared. The journalist was sent to jail while awaiting trial.

In an açt of solidarity, the Group of Central African Privately Owned Press Editors voluntarily stopped publishing as a protest against the arrest of their colleague. The situation was made more threatening by comments from your communications minister, Lt. Col. Parfait Mbey. He was quoted as criticizing privately owned newspapers and saying: “editors should tell the truth, and nothing but the truth, while remembering that not every truth should be told.”

We join Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum in protesting the arrest of this distinguished Central African journalist. We agree with Reporters Without Borders in concluding that “even though there was no conviction on the libel charge, the one-year prison sentence, even if suspended, is still a fundamental violation of free information.”

This shocking attack on the journalist leads us to urge you to be certain that the Central African Republic lives up to its international commitments to freedom of expression and the press. The alternative would be severe damage to your country@quot;s international reputation as a law-abiding democracy.

Respectfully yours,

George Bookman Norman A. Schorr
Freedom of the Press Committee
cc:

Abel Goumba
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
Bangui
Central African Republic

Emmanuel Touaboy
Ambassador of the Central African Republic to the U.S.A
Embassy of Central African Republic
1618 22nd Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Fax: (202) 332-9893

Charge d’Affaires
Permanent Mission of the Central African Republic
to the United Nations
51 Clifton Avenue, Suite 2008
Newark, NJ 07104
Fax: (973) 350-1174