Journalists released after four-hour trial

Two of three Togolese journalists who have been on a month long-detention on charges of disseminating false information and threatening public order, have been released by a judge. The third was however remanded in jail after failing to pay a fine. The journalists, who held a hunger strike last week, were arrested in mid-June in the capital, Lome, in the aftermath of Togo's disputed presidential elections. Colombo Kpakpabia of the weekly Echo and Philip Evegno of l'Evenement, were cleared of all charges and released on Tuesday. The editor-in-chief of l'Evenement, Dimas Dzikodo, was found guilty and fined US $863. Judge Kouyou ordered that he stay in jail until the fine is paid. They were arrested at a cybercafe. According to the police, Dzikodo was scanning pictures of alleged victims of police brutality when opposition politicians took to the streets to contest results of the 1 June presidential elections. Incumbent President Gnassingbe Eyadema won the polls. Opposition politicians said the elections were fraudulent, but observers from the African Union said it was a fair and free poll. A retired army general, Eyadema has ruled the small west African county since 1967. He had pledged not to seek re-election in 2003, but a constitutional amendment in December 2002 paved way for Africa's longest serving president, to run again. Opposition politicians however say Eyadema has restricted both political and media freedoms in the country. The opposition Patriotic Panafrican Convergence (CPP) party, which was approached to join a post-election government has so far refused to sit in the government, CPP's spokesman Cornelius Aidam told IRIN. The CPP is led by former OAU Secretary General Edem Kodjo. Other opposition parties, including the Union of Forces of Change, the Action Renewal Committee, the African Convergence Democratic Committee have also so far rejected Eyadema's invitation to join a government of national unity. Meanwhile Togolese authorities were still investigating two explosions last week which targeted the French cultural center and the French school. Only minor damages were recorded. The explosion followed another that occurred before the presidential polls. That explosion damaged a French-owned restaurant, drawing condemnation from the French government.