Three journalists - Anabelle Volbert and Josian Valère of privately-owned FM Radio-Plus and Gérard Cateaux, the editor of the Week-End newspaper - were arrested yesterday and taken to criminal police headquarters in the capital, Port-Louis, for questioning about a report that a very large sum of money was found in a police officer's personal mailbox. The story appeared in Week-End and was picked by the radio station.

The three journalists were told they should consider themselves under arrest but were allowed to go home. Today, they appeared in court in Port-Louis and were released on bail.

Mauritius was awarded a good position (25th out of 169 countries) in this year's Reporters Without Borders world press freedom index and these were the first journalists to be arrested since 1994. But the L'Express daily newspaper quoted Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolan as saying on 20 November that it would be "appropriate to reinforce the current provisions so that the press does not abuse freedom of expression by invasions of privacy, slander, defamation and baseless reports."

Reporters Without Borders defends imprisoned journalists and press freedom throughout the world. It has nine national sections (Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland). It has representatives in Bangkok, London, New York, Tokyo and Washington. And it has more than 120 correspondents worldwide.