Ivory Coast
Journalists charged with stealing confidential Ivorian documentsPosted Jul 29 2010
After the Ivory Coast newspaper Le Nouveau Courrier ran a front page story explaining the contents of a report from an ongoing investigation, journalists Theophile Kouame, Stephane Guede and Saint Clavier Oula were arrested. They were charged with stealing confidential documents, and they refused to divulge their source to the police. In the Ivory Coast, the theft of secret documents carries a prison sentence.
The judge ordered the individual journalists to pay a symbolic fine of one CFA Franc each while the newspaper has been ordered to pay a five million CFA francs fine. The paper is also facing a ban of 15 days.