English (
http://en.rsf.org/cote-d-ivoire-media-freedom-set-back-20-years-10-02-2011,39531.html
)
For French version see (
http://fr.rsf.org/cote-d-ivoire-un-recul-de-vingt-ans-pour-la-10-02-2011,39530.html
)

*Reporters Without Borders (http://www.rsf.org)
Alert*

10 February 2011

*COTE D'IVOIRE*

*Media freedom set back 20 years*

 Reporters Without Borders is deeply disturbed by a clampdown on the media
by Laurent Gbagbo’s government. The leadership of the National Press Council
(CNP), which regulates the print media, has just been replaced by Gbagbo's
supporters. The UN radio station, *Onuci FM*, has had its permit withdrawn.
And many journalists are still exposed to the threat of violence.



“Laurent Gbagbo’s government has just taken over the CNP, a regulatory body
known for being serious and impartial,” Reporters Without Borders
secretary-general Jean-François Julliard said. “It has seized control in an
arbitrary and politically-motivated move. Given the political affiliation of
the people co-opted by the Gbagbo camp to replace its leadership, we fear
the CNP will cease to perform its regulatory function and will henceforth be
used to punish opposition journalists and media harshly, and to protect
media that are loyal to Gbagbo.”



Julliard added: “A manoeuvre of this kind is liable to set Côte d'Ivoire
back 20 years in terms of respect for media freedom.”



The CNP’s president, *Eugène Dié Kacou*, and its entire board of governors
were fired by a presidential decree signed by Gbagbo on 4 February. Kacou
has been replaced by *Débi Dally*, who, as head of the *Ivorian Press Agency
(AIP)*, fired *AIP* journalists for covering a march on the
state-owned *Radio-Télévision
Ivoirienne (RTI*) organized by the opposition Houphouëtiste Rally for
Democracy and Peace (RHDP) on 16 December.



Several journalists who are members or known supporters of Gbagbo’s party,
the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), have been appointed to the CNP. They
include *César Etou*, the editor of the pro-Gbagbo newspaper *Notre Voie*,
and *N'Goran Aliali*, the publisher of *Le Quotidien*, a newspaper funded by
Gbagbo’s son-in-law, Stéphane Kipré. *Armand Bohoui*, a member of first lady
Simone Gbagbo’s staff and a former *Notre Voie* journalist, has also been
appointed to the CNP.



Kacou was fired regardless of the fact that he was appointed for an
irrevocable three-year period in 2009. The Ivorian authorities have provided
no official reason for his dismissal but they have openly accused the CNP of
being too soft on the opposition press.



Gbagbo’s communication minister, Ouattara Gnonzié, set the tone by
telling *Radio
France Internationale* that “the end of tolerance was a self-defence
measure” and that calls for sedition or insurrection would henceforth be
“punished harshly.”



Without even notifying the management of the Côte d'Ivoire branch of the
French TV channel *Canal+*, Gnonzié gave orders for the *Canal+* equipment
stored at a transmission centre in the Abidjan district of Abobo to be
requisitioned for three months from 8 February.



The broadcasting permit of *Onuci FM*, the radio station operated by the
United Nations peace-keeping mission in Côte d'Ivoire (ONUCI), was cancelled
yesterday. “The frequencies assigned to ONUCI as part of the execution of
its mandate in Côte d'Ivoire are withdrawn,” the National Council for
Broadcasting Communication (CNCA) said in a communiqué that was read out on
*RTI*.



Finally, Reporters Without Borders reiterates its concern about two
journalists employed by *Télévision Notre Patrie (TVNP)* – a TV station that
supports the former rebel New Force – who have been held at the
gendarmerie’s criminal investigation department since their arrest on their
arrival in Abidjan on 28 January. The two journalists, *Abou Sanogo*
and *Gnahoré
Charly*, are charged with “rebellion” and “threatening national security.”



Reporters Without Borders has been told that they were hit with rifle butts
at the time of their arrest at Abidjan’s air-base and were subjected to
other forms of mistreatment, including having lighted cigarettes stubbed out
on their bodies (more information:
http://en.rsf.org/cote-d-ivoire-two-reporters-for-northern-tv-31-01-2011,39434.html).




Local retransmission of the French TV news channels *TV5* and *France 24* is
meanwhile still suspended.


----
Ambroise PIERRE
Bureau Afrique / Africa Desk
Reporters sans frontières / Reporters Without Borders
47, rue Vivienne
75002 Paris, France
Tel : (33) 1 44 83 84 76
Fax : (33) 1 45 23 11 51
Email : [log in to unmask] / [log in to unmask]
Web : www.rsf.org
Twitter : RSF_RWB


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