(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter addressed to the president, General Robert Gueï, RSF protested the assault on several journalists with the private daily “La Référence”, in Abidjan, and expressed its concern about the deteriorating press freedom situation in Côte d’Ivoire. Reminding the head of state of “[his] commitments with respect to press freedom when [he] […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter addressed to the president, General Robert Gueï, RSF protested the assault on several journalists with the private daily “La Référence”, in Abidjan, and expressed its concern about the deteriorating press freedom situation in Côte d’Ivoire. Reminding the head of state of “[his] commitments with respect to press freedom when [he] took power,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard urged him “to issue instructions ensuring that such actions do not reoccur and that Côte d’Ivoire journalists can freely exercise their profession.”
According to the information collected by RSF, five soldiers raided the editorial office of the private daily “La Référence”, in Abidjan on 16 May 2000. The soldiers, armed with guns, damaged computers and arrested a photographer and three journalists, including managing editor Patrice Pohé. They were taken to “la Primature”, where the head of state’s offices are located. While there, the journalists were forced to crawl and do push-ups and were kicked. They were released an hour later. This assault was provoked by the publication of two articles in “La Référence”. The first, published on 12 May, stated that “Each of Mrs. Robert Gueï’s procession’s trips inside the country allegedly cost 100 million CFA francs”. The second, published on 16 May, suggested that ” Robert Gueï’s power base is weak and he could be overthrown at any moment”. Last week, two journalists with the same daily, including Pohé, were arrested and transferred to a military base in Abidjan. They were released two hours later.
On 24 March, a dozen soldiers had raided the offices of the private daily “Le National”, fired gunshots into the ceiling and assaulted several journalists. The soldiers blamed the paper for publishing an article that same morning, titled “For the People”, which criticised General Gueï. Soldiers also raided the offices of the private dailies “Le Jeune Démocrate” and “Soir Info” in January and March, respectively (see IFEX alert of 29 March 2000).
