Central African Republic May 3, 2004

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

Your Excellency:

We write to protest your country@quot;s part in the continuing world-wide abuse of press freedom.

 

On this day, World Press Freedom Day, there are — to the best of our knowledge — 193 journalists imprisoned in the jails of 29 countries, most of them solely for having done their jobs. Central African Republic is one of the 29, and we are informed that you have in custody Jude Zossé, publisher of the daily newspaper, L@quot;Hirondelle .

Zossé was arrested last February and sentenced on March 12, 2004 to six months in prison and fined 200,000 FCFA (305 euros) for ?insulting the head of state.? His conviction was based on his connection with an article in the February 23, 2004 edition of his newspaper that accused Your Excellency of embezzling a large portion of state funds for your personal use. According to Reporters Without Borders, the article, which had not been drafted by Zossé, had been re-printed from the Web site of the bi-weekly, Centrofique Presse , opposition newspaper. The arrest and imprisonment of Zossé were particularly shocking because officials of the Central African Republic had made formal commitment to supporting press freedom.

Your Excellency, Zossé should be released both on principle and as a matter of expediency. The principle is simple, as stated in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. “”Everyone,? according to the Declaration, ?has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”” U.N. members recognize that this right is sometimes inconvenient and troublesome. Yet, it is crucial to uphold, and for practical reasons: A nation that stifles freedom of thought and expression forfeits the good opinion of the world and isolates itself. This may prompt political or economic sanctions, with loss of diplomatic influence and domestic prosperity; at the least, it relegates a country to the company of North Korea, Iraq under Saddam Hussein, or Zimbabwe. And in long or short order, a repressive regime will be overturned.

The Overseas Press Club of America, an independent organization that has defended press freedom around the world for 65 years, urges you to re-think your policy, to welcome free expression of ideas and opinions, and to release Jude Zossé.

The courtesy of a reply would be appreciated.

Respectfully yours,

Larry Martz

Norman A. Schorr
Co-chairmen, Freedom of the Press Committee