Togo opposition plans new march
2010-03-12 19:05
Lome - Togo's opposition leader announced plans on Friday to stage a new protest march against the disputed re-election of President Faure Gnassingbe.
Jean-Pierre Fabre told AFP he expects "massive" participation in Saturday's march.
"We shall show that we have the people behind us and that... we shall fight to free our country from a system that seeks to extinguish it and prevent it from blossoming," he said.
A similar protest in the capital Lome on Tuesday, attended by several hundred people, was quickly dispersed by security forces.
"Up until now, Saturday's march has not been banned. No decision has yet been taken on it," a government official, who demanded anonymity, told AFP.
Fabre's main opposition party, the Union of Forces for Change (UFC), and three other smaller opposition parties are contesting the results of the March 4 presidential poll which officials say was won by Gnassingbe with 60.92% of votes cast.
Electoral fraud
Fabre said that electoral fraud robbed him of victory.
In an interview with the online edition of France's Journal du Dimanche, he accused the international community of being "too complacent with regard to the Togolese authorities. It's content merely to finance reforms and give itself a good conscience over the swallowing up of money for nothing."
"The police show unheard of brutality," Fabre added. "Several people were arrested and taken to a prison located more than 500km from Lome. The height of this action was last Tuesday when UFC officials were arrested."
The 11 UFC officials arrested in the party's headquarters in Lome have been freed, a judicial source said on Friday.
Togo's ruling RPT party also said that it would organise on Saturday a simultaneous march in Lome.
"We are going to express our joy for having won the poll, support our candidate who has resoundingly been re-elected, and defend our vote as free citizens," the secretary general of the party, Solitoki Esso, told AFP.