The Guardian newspaper has been suspended since yesterday, Tuesday 12 October, for the next four months and its director has had his press card withdrawn for the same period. The reason? Ambroise Yawo Kpondjo did not attend a summons from the High Authority for Audiovisual and Communication. He was supposed to appear to explain an editorial in his newspaper in which he denounced cases of vaccination of underage students, contrary to the law. For the HAAC, this is a misleading information, which the journalist denies.
Ambroise Yawo Kpondjo did not have access to the High Authority of Audiovisual (HAAC) to explain himself for lack of a vaccination pass or PCR test. He is not psychologically and physiologically fit to be vaccinated, and does not have the means to take the test, he told us.
This, in the eyes of the High Authority for Audiovisual and Communication constitutes a challenge to authority. He is suspended. For Ambroise Yawo Kpondjo, this is an unfair decision. “We remain serene and will advise in the coming hours of what must be done to challenge this decision through legal channels.
It is an invented information (vaccination of underage students), says the rapporteur of the High Authority, Badjibassa Babaka, who adds that the sanction taken against The Guardian is proportional to the fault committed.
The Togolese press association, of which Ambroise Yawo Kpondjo is a member, condemns this decision and reminds HAAC that it should not confuse its regulatory mission with an exercise in muzzling the press.
A way remains open, Ambroise Yawo Kpondjo can seize the administrative court to contest the decision of the HAAC.