10 July 2003

Alert

IFJ calls for release of journalists' guides who remain imprisoned


Incident details

Thao Moua, Tha Char Yang, Pa Phue Khang

media worker(s)

imprisoned
(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 9 July 2003 IFJ media release:

IFJ Calls for Liberty for All After Release of European Journalists in Laos

The International Federation of Journalists today called for the immediate release of three Laotian guides, who remain imprisoned in Laos after the liberation of two European journalists and their American guide who had been sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment by a court in Vientiane, a little under two weeks ago.

The Laotian Ambassador to France, Soutsakhone Pathammavong, declared today that both Thierry Falise, a Belgian freelance photographer and reporter, Vincent Reynaud, a French freelance photographer/cameraman, and Naw Karl Mua, an American of ethnic Hmong origin who was their guide and translator have been released.

Nonetheless, the IFJ condemns the continued imprisonment of two Laotian guides, Thao Moua and Tha Char Yang, as well as a Laotian driver, Pa Phue Khang, all of whom were sentenced to between 12 and 20 years on June 30th, as a result of their associations with Falise and Reynaud.

"The release of these journalists has exposed the unjustified nature of the initial charges and the subsequent 'show trial',? said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. However, in order to close the case definitively, the IFJ is calling for the Laotian authorities to implement parallel standards of jurisprudence across the board and to free the European journalists' Laotian travel aids.

Falise, Reynaud and Naw Mua, who had been arrested on June 4th while reporting on clashes between armed forces and rebels representing the country's Hmong ethnic minority, left on a flight to Bangkok this morning, and were received at the airport by the French Ambassador Bernard Pottier, his American counterpart Douglas Hartwick and the Belgian Ambassador Pierre Vaesen. The fate of the three imprisoned Laotians remains unclear, but the IFJ is saying that they should also be set free.



Source:

International Federation of Journalists
International Press Centre, Residence Palace
Bloc C, second floor, Rue de la Loi, 155
1040 Brussels
Belgium
Phone: +32 2 2352207
Fax: +32 2 2352219
 

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More on this case

Journalists and translator released from prison 9 July 2003 Journalists detained for one month without any concrete progress 7 July 2003 Court sentences journalists and their translator to 15 years in prison 30 June 2003 Two journalists still held, no significant progress after three weeks in detention 24 June 2003 CPJ calls for journalists' release 12 June 2003 Belgian reporter and French cameraman detained in Vientiane 10 June 2003

Laos

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