28 Jul 10 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Three journalists who were arrested after they published an official government document on corruption were due to be released yesterday. The editor, managing editor and publisher of the Nouveau Courrier d’Abidjan were acquitted of charges relating to theft of official documents but charged with a lesser offence and fined five million CFA francs (7,500 euros).
16 Jul 10 | Index Index, minipost
The editor, managing editor and publisher of an Ivory Coast newspaper have been arrested and charged with theft of official documents. The senior managers of the Nouveau Courrier d’Abidjan were arrested after they printed details of a classified government report into corruption in the cocoa and coffee industries. When the managing editor, well known blogger Théophile Kouamouo, refused to give the details of his sources he was placed in custody and later charged. In a separate incident, the National Press Council (NPC) has imposed a fine of three million CFA francs on the publisher of the newspaper, Le Temps, for publishing the results of election opinion polls.
07 May 09 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
French investigative journalist Jean-Paul Ney, has been bailed from prison in the Ivory Coast after 16 months without trial. Read more here
17 Dec 09 | Uncategorized
BBC Press statement
The BBC has played a leading role in bringing to the public’s attention the actions of Trafigura in the illegal dumping of 500 tons of hazardous waste in Abidjan in 2006. The dumping caused a public health emergency with tens of thousands of people seeking treatment.
Last month, Trafigura agreed to pay victims of the waste around £30 million in compensation, having previously paid compensation of over £100 million to the Ivory Coast government.Trafigura brought libel proceedings against the BBC over one aspect of its reporting: claims that the waste had caused deaths, miscarriages and serious long term health effects. An official Ivory Coast Government report into the incident had stated that people had died because of the waste and a recent United Nations report also found that there was strong prima facie evidence linking the waste to a number of deaths.
Last month Trafigura agreed to pay victims of the waste around £30 million in compensation for sickness suffered. However, the experts in that case were not able to establish a link between the waste and serious long term consequences including deaths. In light of this, the BBC acknowledges that the evidence does not establish that Trafigura’s slops caused deaths, miscarriages or serious or long term injuries. Accordingly, the BBC has withdrawn those allegations and has agreed to broadcast an appropriate apology on Newsnight. The BBC will pay £25,000 to a charity of Trafigura’s choice.
