(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the state minister responsible for security, Quartermaster General Lassana Palenfo, RSF protested the attack on Mohamed Fofana Dara, a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) journalist. The organisation asked the minister to launch an inquiry and punish the soldiers responsible for the brutal assault. According to information collected by RSF, on […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the state minister responsible for security, Quartermaster General Lassana Palenfo, RSF protested the attack on Mohamed Fofana Dara, a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) journalist. The organisation asked the minister to launch an inquiry and punish the soldiers responsible for the brutal assault.
According to information collected by RSF, on 31 July 2000, Mohamed Fofana Dara, a journalist with the Abidjan bureau of the BBC’s “Africa” service, was beaten by two soldiers while covering a demonstration close to the French embassy in Côte d’Ivoire. The protesters wished to demonstrate their support for France, following statements made by Charles Josselin, the French minister with special responsibility for development, concerning the electoral process which is currently underway. A soldier attacked the journalist, punching him in the face and splitting his lower lip. A second soldier then hit him several times with the butt of his rifle. Though the journalist showed his press card to the soldiers, they continued to hit him, even trying to confiscate his radio materials in the process. Mohamed Fofana Dara was finally able to escape his attackers.
Dozens of people were also beaten by soldiers and police officers responsible for “maintaining order” during the demonstration. According to Agence France-Presse, about 100 demonstrators were arrested at the end of the gathering. On Tuesday 1 August, the Ivoirian League of Human Rights (Ligue ivoirienne des droits de l’homme, LIDHO) condemned the repression, suggesting that the attacks on demonstrators constitute violations of two basic freedoms, the freedom to move around and the freedom to demonstrate.
