IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
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PRESS RELEASE/ALERT - CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

16 April 2004

Two journalists detained

SOURCE: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York

**For further information on Jude Zossé, the third journalist currently detained
in the CAR, see IFEX alerts of 16 April, 12 and 9 March and 26 February 2004**

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a CPJ press release:

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Two more journalists detained

New York, April 16, 2004-Mathurin Constant Momet, publication director of the
independent daily Le Confident, and Le Confident Editor-in-Chief Patrick Bakwa
were detained today by police in Bangui, the capital of the Central African
Republic (CAR), and held for questioning.

Local sources said the two were summoned to the police station at about 11 a.m.
in connection with a report about a press conference by Maximilien Boganda, a
Central African businessman. Le Confident reported that during the press
conference, Boganda criticized his former lawyer, Pierre Ouadda-Diala, and
called the CAR's judicial system confused and mafia-like.

According to these sources, the two journalists were summoned to the gendarmerie
because Ouadda-Diala filed defamation charges against them.

Momet told a local radio station on Friday afternoon that the state prosecutor
is keeping them in detention pending the return of Boganda, who is currently in
France, to confirm or deny the statements attributed to him. Attempts to reach
the state prosecutor were unsuccessful.

"Irrespective of the merits of the defamation case," said CPJ Senior Program
Coordinator Joel Campagna, "journalists should never be jailed for their work.
We call for their immediate release."

Three journalists are now detained in the Central African Republic, despite
promises by authorities to respect press freedom and decriminalize press
offenses.

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to
safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information about press conditions
in the Central African Republic, visit http://www.cpj.org [2]

For further information, contact Africa Program Coordinator Julia Crawford
(x112) at CPJ, 330 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10001, U.S.A., tel: +1 212 465
1004, fax: +1 212 465 9568, e-mail: [email protected] [3], [email protected] [4], Internet:
http://www.cpj.org/ [5]

The information contained in this press release/alert is the sole responsibility
of CPJ. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit CPJ.
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