Media Foundation for West Africa condemns conviction of three Ivorian Journalists

Senegal MFWA condemns conviction of three Ivorian Journalists - Sub-regional rights body, Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), on Tuesday condemned the conviction and heavy fines handed down to three Ivorian journalists, PANA reported from here.

The Plateau Criminal Court in Abidjan, the commercial capital of Cote d'Ivoire, on 26 July, convicted three detained editors of the privately-owned Le Nouveau Courrier newspaper over a charge of an "administrative theft".

The trio - Saint Claver Oula, Stephane Guede and Theophile Kouamouo, editor-in-chief, publisher and managing editor respectively - were fined five million CFA Franc (about US$ 9,647) each and a two-week suspension of the newspaper with effect from 26 July.

"MFWA condemns the criminal conviction of the journalists. We are also worried about the exorbitant fines that have been imposed on them," the press freedom watchdog said in a statement.

The journalists were arrested and detained for refusing to reveal their sources of information over a 13 July leaked report on corruption in the cocoa and coffee sector of Cote d'Ivoire that Le Nouveau Courrier published on its front page.

via afriquejet.com

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