The Magistrate Court sentenced Chatefaux and Rahajason, editor in chief and reporter, respectively, for the newspaper L’Express de Madagascar, to three-month prison terms for contempt of court. The contempt citation stemmed from a case filed by the public prosecutor of the Antsirabe Republic, who had sued the newspaper for allegedly insulting a magistrate in a June 1997 article. Chatefaux was sentenced for delaying the publication of the plaintiff’s response to the article.