His Excellency President Idriss Deby
President of Chad
N’Djamena, Chad

31 January 2008

Your Excellency,

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 102 countries, to express our serious concern at the prosecution of journalist Nadjikimo Benoudjita and the closure of his newspaper.

According to reports, Mr Benoudjita, managing editor of the weekly Notre Temps, was arrested at his home in N’Djamena on 14 December after a complaint from the High Council of Communications. He was arrested around 6am by officers who failed to produce an arrest warrant. He was held overnight by security officials before being taken to the offices of the judicial police for questioning.

Judicial police also raided and searched Mr Benoudjita’s home, which serves as the editorial office of Notre Temps. The newspaper was closed, allegedly on the orders of the Minister of Public Security, without following the prescribed procedures.

Mr Benoudjita was originally accused of defamation and insulting the head of state. However, at a court hearing on 17 December, the charges were amended to “incitement to tribal and religious hatred”. He was allowed home while awaiting a further hearing.

Mr Benoudjita has reportedly fled the country in fear for his life. His parents have also allegedly been harassed.

We are concerned that Mr Benoudjita’s arrest could be linked to an editorial headlined “Sarko, no crocodile tears”, which appeared in the 11 December issue of Notre Temps. In the article, Mr Benoudjita wrote a virulent criticism of French policy in Africa and strongly criticised you.

We respectfully remind you that the arrest of Mr Benoudjita and the closure of his newspaper are clear breaches of the right to freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by numerous international conventions, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 19 of the Declaration states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media, regardless of frontiers."

We respectfully call on you to take all necessary steps to ensure that the charges against Mr Benoudjita are immediately dropped and that Notre Temps is allowed to publish freely. We urge you to do everything possible to ensure that in future your country fully respects international standards of freedom of expression.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Gavin O’Reilly
President
World Association of Newspapers

George Brock
President
World Editors Forum

WAN is the global organization for the newspaper industry, with formal representative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe. The organization groups 18,000 newspapers in 102 countries, 11 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups. WAN is non-governmental and non-profit.