-37expression as it raises defamation and libel as criminal offenses or at the very least, because it punishes those offenses through a custodial sentence. 140. The Respondent State argues for its part that the sentences imposed by the Burkinabe Courts take into account the seriousness of the defamatory, libelous and derogatory statements made by the Applicant in his publication and its repeat, following his conviction in connection with another matter. It also argues that civil convictions against the Applicant are also commensurate to the severity of the immeasurable damage, especially moral, suffered by Mr. Placide Nikiema. The Respondent State also argues that its national legislation does not affect the right to freedom of expression; it further stresses that the latest report from the NGO, Reporters Without Borders ranks Burkina Faso among countries in the world where this freedom is most respected. 141. The Amici curiae, for their part, note that the 1993 Burkinabe law on information imposes criminal penalties for defamation, that is to say, in relation to exercising the right to freedom of expression which is protected by international instruments to which the Respondent State is a party and the latter therefore violates its international commitments to protect human rights. They state that Article 9 of the Charter guarantees the right to freedom of expression and that the decisions and publications of the Commission state clearly that criminal sanction for defamation against a public figure is a violation of that right. 142. Furthermore, according to the amici curiae, the Commission thus adheres to universal consensus that criminalization of defamation of or insulting a public figure, is against the right to freedom of expression and the functioning of a free society. Laws on criminal defamation according to them are a remnant of colonialism and they are inconsistent with an independent and democratic Africa; they are an obstacle to efforts aimed at ensuring accountability and transparency of government action.