IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
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PRESS RELEASE/UPDATE - BENIN

4 May 2004

Journalist scheduled to reappear in court, could face more time in jail if he
loses appeal

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

**Updates IFEX alert of 30 April, 23 and 19 March 2004**

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 3 May 2004 CPJ press release:

BENIN: Jailed journalist granted provisional release

New York, May 3, 2004-Jean-Baptiste Hounkonnou, publication director of the
Beninese independent daily Le Nouvel Essor, was granted a provisional release
after spending six weeks in jail on criminal defamation charges.

On April 27, Benin's Court of Appeal granted Hounkonnou's request for
provisional release, and he was freed the same day, according to CPJ sources. He
is due to reappear in court on May 27 and could face jail time again if he loses
the appeal.

On March 16, Hounkonnou was sentenced to six months in prison on criminal
defamation charges. The case stemmed from a December 2003 Le Nouvel Essor
article alleging that a local resident in Parakou, the east central city where
the newspaper is based, had committed adultery.

According to CPJ records, this was the first time a journalist had been
imprisoned for a press offense since President Mathieu Kérékou, previously
president in the 1980s, returned to office in 1996.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an independent, nonpartisan
organization dedicated to the defense of press freedom around the world. For
more information about press conditions in Benin, visit http://www.cpj.org

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
9344, fax: +1 212 465 9568, e-mail: [email protected], [email protected], Internet:
http://www.cpj.org/

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