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Alert

Court grants bail to two journalists charged with "false reporting"

(MRA/IFEX) - On 3 January 2006, a Port Harcourt High Court granted bail to two radio journalists detained on 19 December 2005 on charges of broadcasting a "false news item".

Klem Ofuokwu, the news editor, and Cleopatra Taiwo, a news presenter with the privately-owned radio station Rhythm 93.7 FM, in Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers State in the Niger Delta region, were ordered by Justice Enebeli to enter a bond of N100,000 (approx. US$770) each, with two guarantors each.

Following their arrest and detention, the journalists were arraigned before the Court on 23 December on a two-count charge of conspiracy and broadcasting a false news item with intent to cause fear and alarm to the public or disturb the public peace, contrary to sections 516(A) and 59(1) of the Criminal Code of Rivers State. They were remanded in prison custody by the judge until 3 January, when he would render his decision on the application made by their lawyer, Ken Atsuwete, for their bail.

Their arrest by agents of the State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria's intelligence service, was the government's response to a report aired on the radio station on 17 December, claiming that the Choba Bridge on the outskirts of the city had collapsed and trapped seven vehicles. The report, apparently based on telephone calls from unnamed sources, later proved to be incorrect.

The judge has scheduled their trial for 1 February.