From Bad to Worse: Armand Marozafy’s Request for Parole Rejected
To read this release in French, click here.
MADAGASCAR—Armand Marozafy, an environmental activist and the Chairman of the Steering and Supporting Committee of the Protected Areas in the Masoala region, was thrown into jail on April 27, 2015, and on August 26, was rejected parole by the court of Toamasina.
While Armand Marozafy sits in prison, his colleague Augustine Sarovy is still in exile in Europe. Their crime: denouncing the illegal rosewood trafficking in Malagasy protected areas. The illegally cut rosewood is primarily exported to Asia, and especially to China, which is the largest consuming country internationally.
In a country where public services and administrations are frequently sullied by corruption, Madagascar’s exceptional biodiversity (lemurs, chameleons, uroplates, etc.) is often overlooked.
A few months ago, many public personalities close to Madagascar, including Isabelle Autissier, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Thierry Lhermitte, Francis Hallé, Alexander Von Bismarck, all supporters of the Free Forest movement, called on the Malagasy government to drop all charges against, and liberate, Armand Marozafy and to protect environmental activists like Augustin Sarovy.
Contact in Europe: Free Forest Madagascar (0033) 671641738, madafreeforest@gmail.com, and Cyril Girard, +33.(0)6.71.64.17.38 and Frédéric Larrey, +33.(0)6.09.41.39.24
Contact in America: EIA-US, Maggie Dewane, mdewane@eia-global.org, +1.202.483.6621
Contact in Madagascar: +261.20.(0)3.27.20.53.81 / +261 20 (0)34 66 622 35
With the support of: