A Madagascan journalist was taken into custody here Thursday night for his agitation against the transitional government and his violation of the law on communication and public defamation.
Evariste Ramanantsoavina, journalist of a private radio, was taken away by the police last Tuesday for his violence activities supporting former Madagascan president Marc Ravalomanana.
The minister of communication under the transitional government Gilbert Raharizatovo claimed at the official national television Thursday night that Ramanantsoavina was under investigation by the police but the court decided to imprison him for his inciting activities, which violated the law on communication and public defamation.
Ramanantsoavina was a reporter of Radio Mada, which, Raharizatovo said, had been broadcasting clandestinely in 3 different channels without official agreement.
According to the minister, the radio used the equipment and materials of the Madagascan national radio, which was destroyed ina mass disturbance last January. The minister said that the equipment and materials were given by former president Marc Ravalomanana to the radio before he fled out of the country in late March.
The president of the Madagascan Journalist Association, Rufin Rakotomaharo, condemned the arrest of Ramanantsoavina and asked the authorities to release him as soon as possible.
Ravalomanana, who has been living in exile in Swaziland and South Africa since March 25, condemned the arrest as violation of human rights. Ramanantsoavina is reportedly the first journalist imprisoned in the Indian Ocean island country in the last 20 years.
Source: Xinhua
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