October 29, 1999
President Henri Konan Bedie
La Presidence
Boulevard Clozel
Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
BY FAX: (225) 314540
Your Excellency,
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned by the continued deterioration of the press freedom situation in Cote d’Ivoire.
While we welcome the release from prison today of Le Populaire publisher Raphael Lakpe, threats and attacks against opposition media have intensified alarmingly in recent weeks. In a September 10 letter to Your Excellency, CPJ expressed its deep concern that the prolonged detention of Lakpe and Le Populaire editor Jean Khalil Sylla (who remains in prison) would negatively affect press freedom in Cote d’Ivoire.
On October 20, the Court of First Instance of Abidjan indicted Lakpe and Sylla on charges of distributing and disclosing false news, and sentenced them to six months in prison. The arrest came in response to an April 28 article by Sylla, who wrongly reported that police officers had killed a student after meeting with resistance when they tried to break up a student demonstration. Although Le Populaire ran a correction the next day, Sylla is still being held at Abidjan’s Arrests and Corrections House.
Despite Lakpe’s release, the state-owned Edipresse, which is Cote d’Ivoire’s only newspaper distributor, still declines to distribute Le Populaire. The paper is thus effectively censored in Cote d’Ivoire.
As an organization of journalists dedicated to the defense of press freedom around the world, CPJ calls on Your Excellency to ensure that Jean Khalil Sylla is immediately released and that Le Populaire is permitted to circulate freely in Cote d’Ivoire.
We are also concerned about other recent incidents that have contributed to the climate of fear and intimidation in which Cote d’Ivoire’s independent and opposition journalists now work. On September 27, for example, Lama Fofana, publisher of the newspaper Liberation, was fired at while driving to his newspaper’s offices in Yopougon, a suburb of Abidjan. Liberation is associated with the Rassemblement des Republicains (RDR) opposition party.
On the night of October 25, unknown persons looted the technical offices of Liberation. The attackers stoned the watchman to death, and then stole computer equipment belonging to the newspaper. We urge Your Excellency to ensure that those who have used violence and threats to silence independent journalists are brought to justice.
At this crucial moment in the political history of Cote d’Ivoire, journalists must be assured that your government will respect their fundamental right to work safely and without fear of censorship.
We await your response.
Sincerely,
Ann K. Cooper
Executive Director
Join CPJ in Protesting Attacks on the Press in Cote d’Ivoire
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President Henri Konan Bedie
La Presidence
Boulevard Clozel
Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
BY FAX: (225) 314540