MARCH 1, 2005
Posted: April 14, 2005
Lola Rasoamaharo, La Gazette de la Grande Ile
Rolly Mercia, La Gazette de la Grande Ile
LEGAL ACTION
Rasoamaharo, publication director of the private daily La Gazette de la Grande Ile, was sentenced to prison in connection with three separate defamation charges. He was not taken into custody, pending a decision in his appeal.
Mamy Rakotoarivelo, deputy speaker of the National Assembly, filed a criminal complaint about an article published in La Gazette in January. The story, which described a dispute between Rakotoarivelo and an editor at the newspaper, referred to Rakotoarivelo as a "cretin." Rasoamaharo was sentenced to two months in prison and a three million ariary (US $1,621) fine.
Businessman Mamod Taky Mamode Abasseky filed a complaint about a May 2004 article. The article alleged that Abasseky was involved in criminal activities but that charges against him had been dropped. In this case, Rasoamaharo was sentenced to two months in prison. Mercia, editor-in-chief at the paper, was given a one-month suspended prison sentence. Rasoamaharo was also ordered to pay a symbolic fine of one ariary.
A person named Gaby Ramaherijaona filed the third complaint. It stemmed from the reprint in La Gazette of an article originally published in Le Journal de l'Ile de la Réunion, which is based on the neighboring island of Reunion. The article alleged that Ramaherijaona had been accused of pedophilia by his ex-wife. In this case, Rasoamaharo was sentenced to one month in prison and one million (US $540) ariary in fines.
APRIL 19
Posted: May 31, 2005
Rolland Rasoamaharo, La Gazette de la Grande Ile
James Ramarosaona, La Gazette de la Grande Ile
LEGAL ACTION
Rasoamaharo, publication director of the private, daily La Gazette de la Grande Ile, and editor Ramarosaona, were each sentenced on April 19 to one month in jail for criminal defamation in connection with an article published in January 2004. The article alleged that employees of a state-owned real estate agency, SEIMAD, had embezzled money.
Journalists working for the paper have been repeatedly targeted with criminal defamation suits. Rasoamaharo had been given at least three other prison sentences in connection with his work in recent months. He and Ramarosaona were free pending the newspaper’s appeals.
MAY 22, 2005
Posted: May 31, 2005
Olivier Péguy, Radio France Internationale
LEGAL ACTION
Péguy, a correspondent for Radio France Internationale (RFI) and several other international news organizations, was forced to leave the country on May 22 after the government refused to renew his work permit. Péguy, who had reported from Madagascar for four years, told CPJ that no explanation has been given for the non-renewal.
CPJ urged officials to make public the reasons for not renewing Péguy’s work permit and asked that if the permit was withheld because of Péguy’s critical reporting, the government reconsider and issue a renewal immediately.