The judges ruled that imprisonment for defamation violates the right to freedom of expression and that criminal defamation laws should only be used in restricted circumstances. With its judgment, the highest court in Africa has sent a strong message that governments may not use severe criminal penalties to stifle public debate and reporting on matters of public interest.
KAS Media Africa’s director Christian Echle welcomed the ruling, believing this to be a very important step in the fight against criminal defamation laws. “The decision supports the belief that freedom of expression is an important element of every democratic society”, says Echle, “it will provide a great impetus for our Decriminalization of Expression Campaign”.
KAS Media Africa, together with partners including the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria, has been playing an active part in the pan-African campaign. Spearheaded by advocate Pansy Tlakula, Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, it aims to rid Africa of criminal defamation, insult, false news and sedition laws.
In 2012 Issa Lohé Konaté, the editor of the Burkina Faso-based weekly L’Ouragan, was sentenced to 12 months in prison and fined 4,000,000 CFA francs (6,000 Euros). Konaté was convicted of defaming Burkinabé State Prosecutor, Placide Nikiéma, after he published two articles raising questions about alleged abuse of power by the prosecutor’s office, particularly in the handling of a high-profile case of currency counterfeiting.
Ever since the beginning of the trial, many NGOs from all over Africa have argued that criminal defamation and insult laws are incompatible with freedom of expression and severely undermine the democratic rights of the media to hold their governments accountable. Governments have often used these laws to silence critical voices and to deprive the public of information about the misconduct of officials. Journalists, lawyers and activists who should be free to carry out their work without fear are instead vilified and criminalized under these laws.
Approximately 95% of the countries in the world have criminal libel laws. In 2013, 211 journalists were imprisoned for carrying out their work. African countries are amongst the worst offenders in using criminal defamation laws to fine and imprison journalists.
