African editors ‘outraged’ over US jailing

JOHANNESBURG – African editors say they are outraged by a US judge’s decision to jail New York Times reporter Judith Miller for refusing to divulge the name of a source, and demanded her immediate release.

“(We) salute the stance taken by Judith Miller in choosing to go to jail rather than betray the confidence of her source,” said Mathatha Tsedu, interim chairman of The African Editors Forum (TAEF), representing editors in more than 30 African countries. “TAEF is outraged that the justice system in the US has seen fit to jail her.We believe her incarceration is a travesty of justice and call for her immediate release,” Tsedu said in a statement.Miller was jailed in Washington on Wednesday for refusing to divulge the name of a source who leaked the identity of a covert CIA agent.A second journalist, Time Magazine’s Matthew Cooper was reprieved in the same case.”Her courage is a source of inspiration to many editors and journalists in Africa and around the world who live through autocratic rule and suppression of free speech daily,” he added.”That she is now sitting in jail in what is supposed to be the pinnacle of democracy in the world is both ironic and a testimony to the fact that the struggle for the defence of the rights of journalists to do their work freely is universal and knows no boundaries,” said Tsedu.The name of Central Intelligence Agency spy Valerie Plame was first published in a column in 2003.Her husband, former US ambassador to Iraq Joseph Wilson, claimed she was outed as punishment for his contradiction of President George W Bush’s assertion in his 2003 State of the Union address that Saddam Hussein sought yellowcake uranium from Africa.Miller researched the story, and Cooper only mentioned it in passing.- Nampa-AFP”TAEF is outraged that the justice system in the US has seen fit to jail her.We believe her incarceration is a travesty of justice and call for her immediate release,” Tsedu said in a statement.Miller was jailed in Washington on Wednesday for refusing to divulge the name of a source who leaked the identity of a covert CIA agent.A second journalist, Time Magazine’s Matthew Cooper was reprieved in the same case.”Her courage is a source of inspiration to many editors and journalists in Africa and around the world who live through autocratic rule and suppression of free speech daily,” he added.”That she is now sitting in jail in what is supposed to be the pinnacle of democracy in the world is both ironic and a testimony to the fact that the struggle for the defence of the rights of journalists to do their work freely is universal and knows no boundaries,” said Tsedu.The name of Central Intelligence Agency spy Valerie Plame was first published in a column in 2003.Her husband, former US ambassador to Iraq Joseph Wilson, claimed she was outed as punishment for his contradiction of President George W Bush’s assertion in his 2003 State of the Union address that Saddam Hussein sought yellowcake uranium from Africa.Miller researched the story, and Cooper only mentioned it in passing.- Nampa-AFP