Il 21 maggio 2010 il Consiglio nazionale della comunicazione (CNC) ha deciso unilateralmente di sospendere per sei mesi la pubblicazione del giornale per oltraggio recidivo al capo di stato.

La decisione è avvenuta in seguito alla pubblicazione di un articolo che secondo il CNC conteneva espressioni oltraggiose verso Ali Bongo, capo di stato. Il giornalista autore dell’articolo non aveva fatto altro che delle considerazioni in merito alle spese di viaggio del presidente della Repubblica, considerate esorbitanti e ne aveva deriso l’aspetto fisico.

In Gabon i giornalisti devono appartenere o all’opposizione o alla maggioranza. Il problema con questo giornale è che non può essere classificato. E questo disturba le autorità.

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Il giornalista Jonas Moulenda e Albert Yangari, direttore di pubblicazione e della redazione del giornale l’Union sono stati convocati per la terza volta dalla magistratura in seguito alla querela di Alfred Nguia Banda, che si ritiene diffamato. Quest’ultimo era il direttore generale del Consiglio dei portuali del Gabon (CGC), ente responsabile del traffico marittimo gabonese.

Nell’articolo incriminato il nome del querelante non compare mai e l’autore non fa che esprimere un’ipotesi. Era stato pubblicato nell’edizione del week-end del giornale l’Union il 28 e il 29 novembre 2009 e riguardava l’omicidio del nuovo direttore generale del CGC. Considerando le circostanze dell’omicidio, l’autore non ha fatto altro che porre delle questioni in merito ai responsabili dell’omicidio.

Il carattere diffamatorio è dunque totalmente infondato secondo Reporters sans frontières.

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Reporters Without Borders wrote to President Nicolas Sarkozy on 19 November 2009 on the eve of his meeting in Paris with his visiting Gabonese counterpart, Ali Bongo, asking him to raise the issue of press freedom in their talks. This is the text of the letter:

Mr Nicolas Sarkozy
President of France
Palais de l’Elysée
Paris – France

Paris, 19 November 2009

Dear Mr President,

You are due to meet tomorrow with your Gabonese counterpart, Mr Ali Bongo. Reporters Without Borders would like to express its deep concern about the state of press freedom in Gabon and urges you to raise this issue in talks with you interlocutor.

In fact nine media have just been sanctioned by Gabon’s National Communications Council (CNC) which accused them of “wholesale relaying of public rumours” and writing articles “spreading ethnic divisions, insults and slander”.

We for our part consider that these sanctions are aimed only at penalising pluralist forms of expression. It is obvious that the new authorities do not accept that the results of the presidential elections should be commented on or that members of government and the ruling party should attract criticism.

The spokesman for the Minister of Foreign and European affairs minister said on 12 November in answer to a question about the CNC sanctions, “We underline the importance that France attaches to the principle of freedom of expression. It is one of the fundamental principles of any democracy”. This statement seems to us inadequate. Freedom of the press is not just a principle and France should, through you, ask the Gabonese president to observe it more fully.

Punishment of the nine media is just the latest in a worrying series of incidents. Several journalists found themselves in trouble with the authorities in the aftermath of the presidential election on 30 August, which the press had great difficulty in covering normally. Among them was the editor of the daily L’Union, Albert Yangari, who was questioned for several hours on 25 September. On the same day, police arrested the cartoonist, Patrick Essono, known as “Pahé”, and held him for nearly 48 hours. Very explicit death threats were also made against a journalist on L’Union, Jonas Moulenda, author of a report headlined “Je reviens de Port-Gentil” (I return from Port-Gentil), condemning the role of the military in a clampdown on post-election protests.

Omar Bongo governed Gabon for 41 years without allowing the press any breathing space. We believe it is the duty of France to persuade his successor, Ali Bongo, to choose change. That is why we would be grateful if you could insist with him on the need to protect journalists and to allow for criticism.

I trust that you will give this matter your careful consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Jean-François Julliard
Secretary General

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Reporters Without Borders today condemned what it called Gabon’s “persistently repressive impulses” after the National Communications Council (CNC) suspensions and final warnings on eight privately-owned publications.

Private television channel Canal Espoir was also suspended in the CNC’s clampdown announced at a plenary session on 10 November, when it accused the offending media of “wholesale relaying of public rumours” and some articles of “spreading ethnic divisions, insults and slander”.

“While the Gabonese press is already operating in a difficult climate – some journalists report pressure and threats – the CNC’s decision is distressing because it is only aimed at punishing pluralist forms of expression”, the worldwide press freedom organisation said.

“Evidently, this regulatory body, whose independence from the Libreville government is doubtful, does not accept that the results of the presidential elections should be commented on, or that members of government and the ruling party should attract criticism.

“With these albeit temporary sanctions, the opposition press, critical or satirical has ended up being drastically cut back”, said the organisation, which voiced its backing for Gabon’s privately-run press.

Norbert Ngoua Mezui, founder and leader writer on the newspaper Nku’u le Messager, told Reporters Without Borders of his concern about “the deteriorating climate” for the media. He said he feared that the CNC decision might be only the first in a raft of measures aimed at gagging the press. He said the punishment was aimed at “the outspokenness of the media during the presidential campaign”.

The most severe punishment was meted out to the bi-monthly Echos du Nord, which was handed down a three-month suspension for an article it carried on 29 October headlined “The first fruits of a hooligan state”. Three publications, Le Scribouillard, L’Ombre and La Nation were banned from appearing for two months. The weeklies Nku’u le Messager and Le Crocodile were suspended for one month. The weekly Le Temps and a newspaper that appears irregularly, Gabon d’abord were both given last warnings to comply with the current rules on journalistic ethics.

Finally, the highly popular daily programme “Entre nous”, that gives live airtime to ordinary people, was also suspended. The CNC accused the television station Canal Espoir of “numerous failings in the mastery of techniques for live broadcasting”, but did not specify the length of the suspension.

Attempts by Reporters Without Borders to contact the CNC for an explanation of its decisions were unsuccessful.

Picture : copyright Gaboneco

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Reporters Without Borders deplores the climate of fear that the authorities have created among the Gabonese media by arresting Albert Yangari, the well-known editor of the national daily L’Union, for several hours today.

“Today’s incident was clearly motivated by the government’s desire to intimidate journalists who dare to investigate sensitive subjects,” Reporters Without Borders said. “L’Union has displayed a commendable readiness to be outspoken in its reporting in the past three months and this should have been encouraged rather punished by the government.”

The press freedom organisation added: “We urge the authorities, especially interior minister Jean-François Ndongou and communication minister Laure-Olga Gondjout, to show some decency by respecting media diversity.”

A former tourism minister and one of Gabon’s most respected journalists, Yangari was arrested near Libreville’s Democracy Circle at around 10 a.m. as he was driving to work, and was taken to army intelligence headquarters by a detachment of Red Berets, one of the Gabonese army’s elite units.

“They interrogated me about all of the newspaper’s articles but especially those of the past few days about Port-Gentil,” Yangari told Agence France-Presse, adding that they also “lectured” him before freeing him in the early afternoon.

During the past two days, L’Union carried reports by Jonas Moulenda about the toll from the post-election violence in the western city of Port-Gentil, the stronghold of one of the opposition candidates in the recent presidential poll, Pierre Mamboundou.

The official figure is three dead, but the newspaper said “the number of victims could be as high as 22.” L’Union also claimed that at least three people were shot dead by soldiers, while the government insists that the army never opened fire.

The media have had to endure a great deal of tension in recent weeks with journalists being harassed and in some cases subjected to extortion by the authorities and by opposition supporters.

Equipment belonging to TV + Gabon, a station owned by another presidential candidate, André Mba Obame, has meanwhile just been seized in the interior of the country in compliance with order number 00644/MCPTNTI/SG, issued by communication ministry secretary-general Christophe Othamot on 18 September. Reporters Without Borders has a copy of the order.

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Reporters Without Borders is extremely worried about the impact on the media of a wave of violence and unrest in Gabon that began when the authorities announced earlier today that Ali Bongo, the late president’s son, was the winner of last Sunday’s presidential election. Journalists have been threatened or beaten and the signals of some TV stations have been cut.

“Journalists seemed to be able to work fairly freely on voting day but that changed between the vote count and the announcement of the results,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The media are there to cover the election and its outcome, not to be hostages of the rivalry between the various candidates. As soon as the media are prevented from working properly, there ceases to be any guarantee that the election has been free or fair.”

A Radio-Télévision Nazareth crew was physically attacked outside the entrance to the national electoral commission in Libreville today by opposition supporters reacting to the announcement of Ali Bongo’s victory. Accusing the RTN journalists of being “pro-Ali,” the opposition supporters roughed them up and broke their camera. An Agence France-Presse crew meanwhile narrowly escaped being attacked in the Libreville district of Plein Ciel and a France 3 crew was stoned.

Reporter Patrick Bibang of Radio Africa No.1 was roughed at around 11 p.m. last night by participants of a large opposition demonstration as he was trying to make his way through the crowd in order to talk Mba Obame, Pierre Mamboundou and other opposition leaders who were there.

Five masked gunmen sprayed the transmitter of satellite TV station Go Africa with automatic gunfire on the night of 1 September as it was trying to fill the gap left when the signal of TV+, a station owned by opposition candidate André Mba Obame, was cut by the authorities on election day on the grounds that it “misused archive images” in a programme about the late President Omar Bongo Ondimba.

Telephone texting was suspended yesterday by the Telecommunications Regulation Agency (ARTEL) after well-known figures (and journalists) reported receiving SMS messages containing death threats. An AFP journalist told Reporters Without Borders he had received dozens of death threats by telephone. SMS messages can also be used to send election results and calls for protests.

The Paris-based Africa 24 TV station broadcast a report on 1 September that its crew had been forced to leave the country by the Gabonese authorities. The authorities have denied this.

Reporters Without Borders issued a press release two days before the election voicing concern that the authorities would use “all available means to keep news and information under tight control.” Read the release

According to the results released today by the interior ministry, Ali Bongo was elected president with 141,952 votes (41.7 per cent). The runners-up were André Mba Obame with 88,028 votes (25.9 per cent) and Pierre Mamboundou with 85,797 votes (25.2 per cent).

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Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns the array of restrictions that the Gabonese authorities have imposed on journalists in the run-up to the 30 August presidential election. Communications minister Laure Olga Gondjout today nonetheless tried to defuse tension and concerns by spelling out the rules for journalists on voting day.

The election is to choose a successor to President Omar Bongo Ondimba, who died in June after 41 years in power.

“What with restricted media access to polling stations, harsh warnings, intimidation and refusal to issue some foreign media with accreditation, the government is using all available means to keep news and information under tight control,” Reporters Without Borders said. “It should understand that such behaviour will just fuel concern that the elections will not be free and fair.”

The press freedom organisation added: “We take note of the communication minister’s promises and we hope that journalists are able to work freely and without impediment on Sunday. If they are not, it will cast a long shadow on what should be an historic election.”

Media not welcome in polling stations

In a communiqué drawn up at a cabinet meeting and in news conferences held by interior minister Jean-François Ndongou and National Communications Council chairman Emmanuel Ondo Methogo, the government announced yesterday that journalists would only be able to make “brief” visits to voting stations when public figures were casting their ballots, and would not be allowed to “stay there permanently.”

The authorities also announced that: “Only the state media will be allowed to officially communicate the results on the basis of data provided by the interior minister.” The vote counting will be public but journalists will only be able to attend by staying outside the voting stations. Elections results will not be posted.

A foreign journalist told Reporters Without Borders: “We have been notified that any comment on the results that does not come from the interior ministry will be regarded a projection or a poll, and will automatically result in our being deported from Gabon.”

The Gabonese Media Observatory (OGAM), a self-regulatory entity formed by all the leading Gabonese media, condemned the government’s “iniquitous” decisions and accused the authorities of “flouting press freedom and gagging the people’s right to information.”

Hand-picked foreign journalists

Journalists Virginie Herz and Nicolas Germain of the French 24-hour news channel France 24,Gervais Nitcheu of the TV news agency AITV/RFO and Vincent Hugeux of the French weeklyL’Express will not be able to cover the election because their requests for accreditation have been turned down.

“This is a sovereign decision that we do not have to explain,” Gondjout, the communication minister, told L’Express editor Christophe Barbier. In a blog entry on Nomades Express, Hugeux said he thought his application was rejected because an ironic report he wrote about the late President Bongo’s election campaign in November 2005 “did not find favour in high places.” Poisonous climate and partisan press

The climate in the run-up to the election is widely regarded as worrying. Reporters Without Borders was separately told by several sources which it prefers not to identify that intimidation and telephone threats are common.

The campaign of former minister André Mba Obame, who is running as an independent candidate, reported on 23 August that its website had been blocked by hackers for 48 hours. Distribution of the fortnightly Tango was banned on the orders of the communications ministry chief of staff at the start of August because of a series of articles critical of the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG).

Reporters Without Borders regards the ban not only as violation of free expression but also as an abuse of authority as, in Gabon, only the National Communications Council is empowered to issue warnings to publications or suspend them.

Reporters Without Borders added: “While journalists are above all victims of restrictions imposed by the authorities, the Gabonese media’s behaviour is not always beyond reproach. Journalists, especially those working for privately-owned media, often let themselves be used as the mouthpieces of particular candidates, to the detriment of impartial and independent reporting. We remind journalists of their duty to be objective and respect professional ethics.”

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