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AFRICA

Örebro man jailed for Togo coup attempt

A naturalised Swedish citizen from Togo in western Africa, has been convicted of staging a coup against the regime there, leaving his family back in Örebro in central Sweden devastated with the surprise verdict.

Published: 16 September 2011 15:08 CEST

”We have nothing. We are desperate and we feel totally alone,” Issifou Seidou’s daughter Rissa said to news agency TT.

The Swedish foreign ministry has confirmed that they are aware of the situation but told TT that their hands were tied because Sweden doesn’t have an embassy in Togo.

According to TT, France has handled Sweden’s affairs in Togo, but staff from the Swedish embassy in Nigeria have also visited Seidou on four occasions, most recently on July 26th.

Seidou was a general in the Togolese army who came to Sweden in the late 1980s after falling out of favour with the regime.

The president at the time, Gnassingbé Eyadéma, had him accused of staging a coup.

After two years of imprisonment in Togo, where he allegedly underwent torture, he was released and the family escaped to Sweden.

They settled in Örebro, but in late 2008, Seidou decided to go back to Togo.

Gnassingbé Eyadéma died in 2005, leaving the title to his son, Faure Gnassingbé.

Another son, Kpatcha Gnassingbé was appointed defence minister at the same time, but had been relieved of his post in 2007.

In 2009, Seidou was arrested, together with former minister Kpatcha Gnassingbé and 30 other people, accused of staging a coup against the regime. According to Seidou’s family there is no substance to these claims.

”My father is totally innocent. Despite serious torture they haven’t been able to make him confess to anything. He showed off his injuries during the trial. Amnesty International has aimed serious criticism against these methods,” daughter Rissa Seidou told daily Aftonbladet.

According to Seidou’s daughter, both the prosecutor and the judge said during the trial that unless new evidence could be presented to incriminate Seidou and the others, they would be released.

This was supposed to happen on Monday and when it didn’t, the family realised something had gone wrong.

”And now suddenly there is this verdict that can’t be appealed,” Seidou’s daughter told Expressen.

The family is now at a loss as to how to handle the situation. They have no idea what to do to sway Togolese authorities, excepting an international intervention.

”That is our only hope, there is nothing else. I can’t see who can turn to,” Rissa Seidou told TT.

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ITALY

Pope to address environment in speech to crowd of 800,000

Pope Francis began a visit Saturday to Madagascar, one of the world's most impoverished nations with a unique and threatened environment.

Published: 7 September 2019 10:50 CEST
Pope to address environment in speech to crowd of 800,000

Arriving from Mozambique, where he pleaded for understanding and the renunciation of violence in a country riven by 16 years of civil war and now jihadist attacks, the Argentine pontiff warned of the dangers of deforestation and the impact of environmental degradation. 

Francis told his hosts that they should “create jobs and money making activities which respect the environment and help people escape poverty.” Madagascar is home to 25 million people, the vast majority of whom live in poverty with income of less than two dollars a day.

The pope said there “were many causes driving excessive deforestation which benefits just a few people… and compromises the future of the country.”

The authorities must ensure social justice, he added, echoing concerns about the global environment highlighted by massive fires across the Amazon forest.

After the welcoming ceremonies, the pope's first engagement Saturday is a mass and prayer vigil with at least 12,000 young scouts.

Tafika Fanomenza, 39, who is helping to coordinate the scores of volunteers involved in the preparations, as well as in the pontiff's security, hoped Francis' visit would help bring about change in Madagascar.

More than half of the young people on the world's fifth-largest island are out of work, even if many boast good qualifications.

Political instability has done nothing to help the development of an economy largely dependent on agriculture, and the export of vanilla and cocoa in particular.

Liberal-leaning president Andry Rajoelina was elected to a second term last year mainly on promises of jobs and housing.

Crowds of 800,000

Sunday will mark the high point of Francis' visit with a huge mass in the capital expected to be attended by some 800,000 pilgrims.

Many had already started setting up tents on the outskirts of the city on Friday, armed with posters of the Argentine pontiff.

Prospere Ralitason, a 70-year-old farm worker, arrived with some 5,000 fellow pilgrims from the central eastern town of Ambatondrazaka, 200 kilometres (125 miles) away.

“We are tired, but it's worth making all these sacrifices to see the pope with our own eyes and receive his blessing,” he told AFP, impatient to set out on the final two-hour hike on Sunday to attend the mass.

“We spent 65,000 ariary ($18/16 euros) and brought three kilos of rice to make the trip to Antananarivo,” said another pilgrim and farm worker, Jean-Claude Rabemanatrika, 40.

“There are five of us at home and we don't have enough money so we had to choose just one family member to make the trip.”

“We've provided toilet, showers, a sick bay and somewhere to cook for our 5,000 guests,” beamed Marino Andriamasy, 35, who is in charge of the makeshift site where the pilgrims are staying.

John Paul II 

The last pope to visit was John Paul II 30 years ago.

“I was a lieutenant when I helped with the security of John Paul II in 1989. Today I am a divisional general and overseeing security for Francis' visit to Madagascar,” said Samuel Rakotomalala.

Some 700 police officers will be deployed at the site, which is also equipped with 200 surveillance cameras and the 12,000 young scouts will also help out.

In June, 16 people were killed and dozens hurt in a stampede outside a sports stadium in the capital during a free concert.

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