New York, August 3, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists
(CPJ) has learned that imprisoned Ivoirian journalist Gaston Bony, publication
director of the weekly newspaper Le Venin and a host at the radio
station La Voix de l'Agnéby, was provisionally released on July
28.
Bony had served more than four months of a six-month sentence for criminal
defamation. The journalist told CPJ today that his health sharply deteriorated
in jail, and that he has been repeatedly threatened with death unless
he leaves his town of Agboville, 37 miles (60 kilometers) north of Ivory
Coast's commercial capital, Abidjan. Bony says he has informed the police
of threats, but that they have taken no action.
On March 24, a court in Agboville sentenced Bony to six months in prison
and a fine of 50,000 CFA francs (US$92). Agboville Mayor Tetchi Chiedou
Claude pressed the charges against the journalist after he accused
the mayor of corruption in a February 23 Le Venin article, according
to local sources.
On July 28, a court granted Bony's provisional release. His lawyer, Gohi
Bi Raoul, said he also argued for Bony's release on the basis of his health
problems. An appeal will be heard on October 16.
Bony told CPJ he has a heart problem and has been seriously weakened by
unsanitary conditions and a lack of medical care in prison. In June, he
was brought to court to face new defamation charges stemming from another
article in Le Venin, which were subsequently dropped. During the
proceedings, he fell ill and later had to have an appendectomy..
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