New York, January 23, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes the verdict delivered yesterday by a military court in Ivory Coast’s commercial capital, Abidjan, sentencing an Ivoirian police officer to 17 years in prison for the October 2003 murder of Radio France Internationale (RFI) correspondent Jean Hélène. The court found Sgt. Théodore Séry Dago…
New York, October 22, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) strongly condemns the Tuesday, October 21, assassination of Jean Hélène, correspondent for Radio France Internationale (RFI) in Ivory Coast’s capital, Abidjan. According to diplomats and eyewitnesses, Hélène was shot by a police officer on Tuesday evening outside the national police headquarters in central Abidjan while…
New York, March 20, 2003— The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) mourns the death of Kloueu Gonzreu, 51, a regional correspondent for the state-run news wire service Agence Ivoirienne de Presse. According to several local reports, Gonzreu’s body was found and identified on Wednesday, March 19, by a team from the Red Cross, where the…
New York, October 16, 2002—A group of about 50 people today looted and ransacked the offices of the private Mayama media group, publisher of three Ivory Coast pro-opposition newspapers, said several sources in the capital, Abidjan. The mob smashed computers and other equipment and damaged printing presses while chanting pro-government slogans. The newsrooms of Le…
New York, September 25, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about the safety of journalists covering the ongoing military crisis in the Ivory Coast. According to several sources in the capital, Abidjan, at least one local journalist was badly beaten by troops loyal to the government of President Laurent Gbagbo, who have…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the continued harassment of independent journalists in your country under the pretext of investigating the failed coup attempt of January 8, 2001. Most recently, on February 10, as many as thirty armed men and three uniformed police officers broke into the printing press where the independent Abidjan daily Le Jour is produced. The intruders forced a security guard to lie prone while they searched the premises for “arms and mercenaries.” A police helicopter hovered over the factory while the search was being performed. The men all claimed to be law enforcement officers, but did not have a search warrant. They claimed to be acting on an anonymous phone tip, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Click here to read more about press freedom conditions in Côte d’Ivoire Click here to see CPJ’s news archives for Côte d’Ivoire New York, September 13, 2000 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely disturbed by the continued brutal persecution of journalists who criticize Côte d’Ivoire president Robert Gueï and the activities of…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely disturbed by the continued brutal persecution of journalists who criticize you and the activities of your military government. We are particularly alarmed at the recent beating of Joachim Beugré, editor of the private daily Le Jour, by three soldiers under your command.
Click here to read more about press freedom conditions in CÔTE D’IVOIRE New York, July 7, 2000 — On July 5, in the aftermath of what he described as a “failed coup,” Côte d’Ivoire’s military ruler General Robert Gueï warned local journalists to be “careful” because they will now be severely punished for politically motivated…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely disturbed by your regime’s plans to tighten state control over the press in Côte d’Ivoire. According to CPJ’s sources in Abidjan, Information Minister Captain Henri Cesar Sama announced on June 23 that the ruling National Public Salvation Committee (CNSP) would soon release a list of measures designed to block the publication of any information “likely to negatively affect the credibility of journalists, national security and social peace.”