New York, July 24, 2003—Dimas Dzikodo, editor-in-chief of the independent weekly L’Evenement, was released from prison this morning after his lawyers paid his 500,000 CFA franc (US$864) fine for “attempting to publish false information,” sources in the capital, Lomé, told CPJ today.
Dzikodo was arrested at a cybercafé in Lomé on June 14 while he was scanning photos of people whom police and government supporters had allegedly manhandled during the June 1 presidential elections. Two other journalists were arrested around the same time—Philip Evégnon, publication director L’Evenement, and Jean de Dieu Kpakpabia, journalist at the private weekly Nouvel Echo.
Evégnon and Kpakpabia were acquitted of “attempting to publish false information and to disturb public order” on Tuesday, July 22. The two were released from Lomé central prison yesterday.
