Ivory Coast

2010

  
Supporters of Gbagbo (left) and Ouattara (right) are going after each other's media outlets. (AP)

Election in dispute, Ivory Coast bans news broadcasts

New York, December 3, 2010–Ivorian authorities should immediately lift a ban imposed Thursday on France-based news broadcasters covering the contested presidential election, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Obama's Young African Leaders Forum in Washington touched on press freedom. (America.gov)

Obama tells Africa forum ‘no reason’ for press restriction

One out of 10 delegates participating this week in U.S. President Barack Obama’s Young African Leaders Forum was a journalist. The forum, a U.S. initiative meant to spark discussions on the future of Africa in a year when 17 countries on the continent are celebrating 50 years of nationhood, did not overlook freedom of the press, as I witnessed in…

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The author, far left, interviewing Brazilian soccer players in 1975. (Courtesy Eugène Dié Kacou)

In Ivory Coast, old struggles give way to new challenges

Independence came when I was attending school at the orientation college in Abidjan-Plateau, and when I was still sneaking to listen to the news on my father’s Grundig radio set. Today, I believe that genuine freedom of the press exists in our African countries. In Ivory Coast, for example, the new press law abolished prison…

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Protesters seek release of three Ivorian editors jailed in a leaked document case. (AFP/Sia Kambou)

No Wikileaks, but cocoa piece typifies fight over leaks

WikiLeaks’ publication of tens of thousands of pages of confidential U.S. military documents on the Afghanistan war has drawn a lot of attention, perhaps overshadowing the many, more common cases around the world in which journalists publish stories based on leaked documents. This week, for instance, three journalists in Ivory Coast were found guilty of…

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The three defendants handcuffed in court prior to their release. (AFP/Issouf Sanogo)

Judge issues fine, suspension in leaked document case

New York, July 27, 2010—An Ivorian judge on Monday ordered the release of three journalists who had been jailed for a story citing a leaked official document, but he imposed a fine and suspension on their newspaper, according to local journalists and news reports. 

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Ivorian trio charged; ailing reporter on hunger strike

New York, July 16, 2010—Three journalists were formally charged today after refusing to reveal to Ivory Coast’s state prosecutor their sources for a corruption story based on a document leaked from the prosecutor’s office. The journalists could face up to 10 years in prison.

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Le Nouveau Courrier’s newsroom with a copy of Tuesday's edition. (Le Nouveau Courrier)

Ivory Coast detains three journalists over sources

New York, July 15, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the arrest of three journalists in Ivory Coast who have been detained since Tuesday, when they refused to disclose sources for an investigative report detailing the results of a government probe into corruption in the coffee and cocoa export trade, according to local journalists…

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A Congolese man removes a portrait of Belgium's king in Leopoldville on July 22, 1960, at the end of colonial rule. (AP)

50 years on, Francophone Africa strives for media freedom

CPJ has joined with African press freedom groups to urge African leaders to end repression of the media as they celebrate 50 years since the end of colonial rule. We will publish a series of blogs this week by African journalists reflecting on the checkered history of press freedom over that period.This year is the 50th anniversary of…

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CPJ, African groups call for press freedom commitment

Your Excellencies: As you gather in Paris for festivities that celebrate your nations’ 50 years of independence, we, the undersigned African press freedom advocates petition for your public commitment to a free, vibrant, and self-sustaining press as a cornerstone of the development of francophone Africa in the next five decades.

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Ivory Coast’s suspension of France 24 is politicized

New York, February 24, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about politically motivated censorship in Ivory Coast after authorities banned international French broadcaster France 24 on Monday on bogus allegations of unprofessionalism over coverage of political unrest in the West African nation.

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2010