The CNC’s banning of the weekly for publishing articles about the Mbiané islet is without grounds and constitutes an attempt to silence opinions about an important issue.

As such, JED demands the unconditional and immediate lifting of the arbitrary and illegal suspension of the paper, which originates more from a political will to censor rather than from a real concern to regulate.

According to information obtained by JED, “L’Echo du Nord” was suspended on 30 September 2006 for three months, for having published in a 25 September article, statements considered “pure malicious insinuations” and “speculation on unverified facts”, concerning the conflict between Gabon to Equatorial Guinea over the sovereignty of the Mbanié islet.

The article in question denounced the “Triviality” and “recklessness” of Gabonese authorities in the settlement of the dispute, which according to CNC constitutes “A breach of the Nation’s honour and its territorial Integrity”.

The Mbiané islet is a strip of land measuring thirty hectares, located between Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, which hosts a large oil deposit. The islet has been the centre of a conflict between the two countries sine 1972, since both claim sovereignty over it. In mid-September, the Gabonese press accused the Minister of interior, Mr. André Mba Obame, of treason, after he proposed, along with a foreign lawyer, that the islet be sold to Equatorial Guinea.