LOME, Togo - Dare reLomé richatanga mangwana kuti rinzwe chikumbiro chakaitwa neBenin-based region bimonthly Tribune d'Afrique vachipokana nemutongo waNyamavhuvhu 25 uyo wakarambidzwa zvachose kugovaniswa muTogo uye akanzi abhadhare faindi ye6. mamirioni eCFA francs (9,000 euros) uye kukuvadzwa kwemamiriyoni makumi matanhatu eCFA francs (60 euros) yekubatanidza Mey Gnassingbé, mukoma wemutungamiri wenyika uye nhengo yehofisi yemutungamiri wenyika, nekutengesa zvinodhaka.
Vatori venhau Vasina Border uye Avocats Sans Frontières, avo vari kupa Tribune d'Afrique nerutsigiro rwetsika nerubatsiro rwemutemo, vanodana dare reTogolese kuti ribvise zvirango zvakatemerwa nemutongo waNyamavhuvhu apfuura.
"Kana Mey Gnassingbé achitenda kuti akasvibiswa, saka ane kodzero yekumhan'arira Tribune d'Afrique nekuda kwekukuvadza," munyori mukuru weReporters Without Borders Jean-François Julliard akadaro. “Asi tinoshamiswa kuti hofisi yemuchuchisi yakakumbirawo kurambidzwa zvachose kwemagazini yacho. Izvi zviri kuenda kure. Isu tinofungidzira kuti kwaive kutsiva kwakanangana nekubvisa chinyorwa chinogumbura zviremera. "
François Cantier weAvocats Sans Frontières France akawedzera kuti: “Mutemo weTogo wekutaurirana nevatori venhau unopa faindi inokwana miriyoni imwe chete yeCFA francs yekusvibisa zita asi vakuru vakabhadharisa magazini iyi 1 miriyoni mafrancs eCFA. Zvakanga zvisiri izvo zvakare kutongera David Cudjoe Amekudzi nemhosva sezvo asina kunyora chinyorwa chinogumbura uye asiri mupepeti wemagazini kana mutsikisi. Anongori mumiriri waro muLomé uye, nekudaro, haafanire kunge aine hany'a nenyaya iyi. "
Mutori wenhau weTribune d’Afrique, Aurel Kedote, pamwe nemupepeti waro, Max Savi Carmel, vari kupinda mudariro mangwana pamwe naAmekudzi, uyo ane chigaro chemaneja wemabhuku pamwe nemumiriri weTogo. Gweta rinomirira magazini richava Jil-Benoît Kossi Afangbedji.
Chinyorwa chakaita kuti mubairo wokukuvadzwa kukuru uye faindi papomero dzokuzvidza uye kuparadzira mashoko enhema chaiva nomusoro unoti “Kutengeswa zvinodhaka kumusoro. Togo inobatanidzwa. Mey Gnassingbé anonzi."
Mushure mekunge Tribune d’Afrique yakwidza nyaya yayo, zviremera zvakaibvumira kuti irambe ichiparadzirwa muTogo. Asi pashure pedzimwe nyaya mbiri dzakapfuurira kutsamwisa zviremera zveTogo, magazini yacho yakaziviswa pakati paSeptember kuti kushandiswa kwechirambidzo chokuparadzira kwaisazomiswazve kuchimirira muuyo wechikumbiro. Haina kugovaniswa muTogo kubva ipapo.
Zvirango izvi zvakatemerwa Tribune d'Afrique panguva apo vazhinji vezvenhau vaimhan'ara muTogo, izvo zvakaita kuti Reporters Without Borders vanyorere Mutungamiriri Faure Gnassingbé munaGunyana vachiratidzira zvakare "kushandiswa zvisizvo kwemutemo kune vezvenhau." Mushure mezvo, kumwe kupomerwa kwese kwakaraswa, zvichisiya Tribune d'Afrique seyo yega yakatemerwa zvirango.
Kuonekwa semushoropodzi wehurumende, Tribune d'Afrique yagara ichinangwa nevakuru veTogo mumakore achangopfuura. Mushure mekuburitsa mushumo wakasarudzika nezvemuzinda wemutungamiri wekupera kwesvondo muAgou, 100 km kunze kweLomé, muna Nyamavhuvhu 2009, High Authority yeNhepfenyuro neKutaurirana (HAAC) yakaraira kuti "irege kuvhima Togo." Mushure mezvo, magazini yakagamuchira anenge makumi maviri masamanisi kubva kuHAAC pasina zvirango zvakambotemerwa.
Tribune d'Afrique inogoverwa munyika nomwe pasere dzinoumba West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU): Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Togo uye (nenguva) Senegal.
ZVOKUBVA MUNYAYA INO:
- A Lomé court will begin tomorrow to hear an appeal by the Benin-based regional bimonthly Tribune d’Afrique against a 25 August ruling under which it was permanently banned from being distributed in Togo and was ordered to pay a fine of 6 millions CFA francs (9,000 euros) and damages of 60 millions CFA francs (90,000 euros) for linking Mey Gnassingbé, the president’s brother and member of the president’s office, to drug-trafficking.
- The sanctions were imposed on Tribune d’Afrique at a time when many print media were being prosecuted in Togo, prompting Reporters Without Borders to write to President Faure Gnassingbé in September protesting again “the abusive use of legal actions against the media.
- But after two more issues that continued to upset the Togolese authorities, the magazine was notified in mid-September that implementation of the distribution ban would no longer be suspended pending the outcome of the appeal.
