(JED/IFEX) – On 21 May 2004, at about 8:00 a.m. (local time), Corneille Wanguia-Vickot, assistant editor-in-chief of the daily “Le Confident”, published in the capital, Bangui, was arrested on the order of Interior Minister Jules Bernard Ouande. The journalist’s home was also raided after he refused to disclose his sources for a story. He was […]
(JED/IFEX) – On 21 May 2004, at about 8:00 a.m. (local time), Corneille Wanguia-Vickot, assistant editor-in-chief of the daily “Le Confident”, published in the capital, Bangui, was arrested on the order of Interior Minister Jules Bernard Ouande. The journalist’s home was also raided after he refused to disclose his sources for a story. He was released after spending 48 hours in detention.
According to Wanguia-Vickot, his arrest comes on the heels of the paper’s report on a 15 million CFA franc (approx. US$27,700) misappropriation of funds at the Interior Ministry. The minister demanded to know the source of the information. When the journalist refused, his house was searched.
Forty-eight hours after his detention, a senior police official granted Wanguia-Vickot a conditional release.
