PWYP Calls on Gabon to Drop All Charges Against Released Activists

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACTS: Joseph Williams (London), PWYP Information and Advocacy Officer +44 20 7031 1616 +44 7775 751 170 Marie-Ange Kalenga (Yaoundé), PWYP Africa Coordinator +237 9640 2730

Publish What You Pay (PWYP), the global civil society coalition that helps citizens hold their governments accountable for the management of revenues from the oil, gas and mining industries said today that the Gabonese authorities should drop all charges against civil society activists facing unfounded accusations, and guarantee their rights.

PWYP Gabon members Marc Ona and George Mpaga were charged with 'possession of a document for dissemination for the purpose of propaganda' and with 'oral or written propaganda for incitement of rebellion against the state'. These offences are punishable by up to 5 years of imprisonment.

Ona and Mpaga were arrested on 31 December 2008 along with civil servant Grégory Ngbwa Mintsa, and two journalists, Gaston Asseko and Dieudonné Koungou who are facing the same charges.

The men spent a total of 12 days in detention in appalling conditions which fall well below recognized international norms with no access to sanitation or medical facilities. The men were released on bail on 12 January 2009 following an outpouring of international criticism. Koungou was released after being held in police custody last week.

The charges relate to the publication in early December 2008 of an open letter criticising President Bongo on a political blog. The letter was sent to hundreds of people via the internet including journalists and civil society activists.

Maître Ruphin Nkoulou Ondo, a lawyer who is representing them, denies that the accused have anything to do with the letter which they neither signed nor authored. "The charges against my clients are entirely unfounded, preliminary investigation shows that there is no evidence in support of the accusations", Maître Ondo said.

Thierry Lévy, a Paris-based lawyer mandated by families of the accused was prevented from travelling to Gabon on 8 January in violation of the mutual legal assistance convention between France and Gabon. Maître Lévy is due to travel to Libreville to assist with legal proceedings.

Ona is an outspoken activist who has contributed to public debate on issues of corruption and revenue transparency in oil rich Gabon. He sits on the same national committee overseeing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) as government representatives and has played an active role in advancing this internationally recognised initiative since its inception in Gabon.

This case is the latest in a long history of official harassment waged by the Gabonese authorities against independent civil society. In January 2008, 22 NGOs, including Ona’s Brainforest, were suspended and their legal status frozen. Grégory Ngbwa Mintsa is a civil plaintiff in a case filed recently in Paris calling for an investigation into expensive real estate and other assets in France acquired by three African heads of state, including President Bongo.

"The release of the five detainees, while welcome, is not an end in itself," said PWYP International Coordinator Radhika Sarin. "As Ona's case shows, anyone who dares to speak out remains vulnerable to harassment at any time. This behaviour is clearly a slap in the face of EITI principles and supporting institutions and governments must not let this pass without consequences."

PWYP urges the international community to closely monitor the case and to call for all charges against the men to be dropped.

PWYP calls on the government of Gabon to respect the rights of all its citizens to express themselves freely and to guarantee their protection and security.

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BACKGROUND

The four individuals being held in police detention are Marc Ona Essangui, National Co-ordinator of PWYP Gabon; Georges Mpaga, President of ROLBG, the Gabonese civil society network for good governance, which is a member of PWYP Gabon; Grégory Ngoua Mintsa, a public servant and civil plaintiff in a complaint filed in Paris on December 2, 2008 calling for an investigation into assets acquired in France by three African heads of state, including the President of Gabon; and Gaston Asseko, a journalist with radio Sainte-Marie. A fifth, Dieudonné Koungou, a journalist with Tendance Gabon, has been released on bail.

Marc Ona was previously detained in June 2008 at Libreville airport while en route to a Revenue Watch international meeting in New York. Since then, Ona has faced an illegal travel ban and in July 2008, along with other activists, he was interrogated by police after calling for an investigation into the financial affairs of the country's Chief Prosecutor. See Publish What You Pay. On July 28, 2004, the Minister of Economy, Finance, and Budget of Gabon informed the World Bank of his country's commitment to adhere to the EITI. In March 2005, the government expressed its commitment to join the EITI in a letter of intent to the IMF. Since then, Gabon has published three EITI reports. See the EITI.

CONTACTS:

JOSEPH WILLIAMS (London)
PWYP INFORMATION AND ADVOCACY OFFICER
+44 20 7031 1616
+44 7775 751 170

MARIE-ANGE KALENGA (Yaoundé)
PWYP AFRICA COORDINATOR
+237 9640 2730

LEARN MORE

• Gabon: Anti-Corruption Advocates Imprisoned On Trumped-Up Charges
• Publish What You Pay Condemns Arbitrary Arrest of Anti-Corruption Campaigners in Gabon and Calls for Their Release
• PWYP Expresses Concern Over Harassment and Intimidation of Anti-Corruption Campaigners in Gabon
• Civil Society Calls on Gabon to Lift Travel Ban on Transparency Campaigner
• Gabon Bans Paper for Report on Wealth Bongo
• Publish What You Pay International
• Global Witness