Nairobi, March 7, 2018
"It is a huge relief that the prosecution dropped its charges against Ramon, but they should never have been pressed in the first place," said Salil Tripathi, chair of PEN International's Writers-in-Prison Committee. "We urge the authorities to guarantee his safe return to his family, allow him to continue creating his hard-hitting cartoons, and ensure that Equatorial Guinea respects the right to freedom of expression.”
The
global #FreeNseRamon coalition, consisting of hundreds of artists, activists,
and organizations devoted to protecting artistic freedom, freedom of expression and
other human rights, carried out a campaign to direct international attention to
his situation.
“Ramon’s release from prison is a testament of the power of collective work of hundreds of artists, concerned citizens, and NGOs,” said Tutu Alicante, director of EG Justice, which promotes human rights in Equatorial Guinea. “But we must not forget that dozens of government opponents who are not as fortunate fill Equatorial Guinea’s jails; thus, the fight against human rights violations and impunity must continue.”
Esono Ebalé, who lives outside of his native
Equatorial Guinea, was arrested on September 16, 2017, while visiting the
country to request a new passport. Police interrogated him about drawings
critical of the government, said two Spanish friends who were arrested and
interrogated alongside him and were later released.
But a news report broadcast on a
government-owned television channel a few days after the arrest claimed that
police had found 1 million Central African francs in the car Esono Ebalé was
driving. On December 7, he was formally accused of counterfeiting. The charge
sheet alleged that a police officer, acting on a tip, had asked him to exchange
large bills and received counterfeit notes in return.
“Equatorial Guinea’s government has a long
record of harassing and persecuting its critics,” said Mausi Segun, Africa
director at Human Rights Watch. “Ramon’s release is an important victory
against repression.”
At the trial on February 27 in Malabo,
Equatorial Guinea’s capital, it became clear that the police officer who had
made the accusations had no personal knowledge of Esono Ebalé’s involvement in
the alleged crime, according to his lawyer and another person
present at the trial. After offering details that conflicted with the
official account, the officer admitted that he had acted on orders of his
superiors, they said. The
prosecution then withdrew the charges.
“We are delighted that Ramón was acquitted and is
finally free,” said Angela Quintal, Africa
Program Coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists. “The fact that the state's main witness recanted,
underscores the point that authorities manufactured the charges in the first
place. Ramon should never have spent a single day behind bars and we trust that
he will not be subjected to any further reprisal.”
The
human rights groups are Amnesty International, Arterial Network, Association of American Editorial Cartoonists,
Asociación Profesional de Ilustradores de Madrid, Cartoonists
Rights Network International, Cartooning for Peace, Committee to Protect Journalists,
Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC, Jonathan Price and Paul Mason, Doughty Street
Chambers, UK, EG Justice, FIDH, within the
framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders,
Freemuse, Human Rights Watch, Index on Censorship, PEN America, PEN
International, Reporters without Borders, Swiss Foundation Cartooning for
Peace, World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the
Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders.
“Now that Ramon has been released, the authorities must launch a thorough and effective investigation into whether the charges against him were fabricated, and ensure that the criminal justice system is no longer misused to target and harass human rights defenders,” said Marta Colomer, Amnesty International’s Campaigner on Equatorial Guinea.
For more information, please contact:
In Chapel Hill, for EG Justice, Tutu Alicante (Spanish, English, French): +1-615-479-0207 (mobile); or tutu@egjustice.org. Twitter: @TutuAlicante
In New York, for Human Rights Watch, Sarah Saadoun (English): +1-917-502-6694 (mobile); or saadous@hrw.org. Twitter: @sarah_saadoun
In Washington, DC, for Cartoonists Rights Network International, Robert Russell
(English): +1-703-543-8727;
or director@cartoonistsrights.org. Twitter: @BroDirector
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