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Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is stunned and dismayed to learn that six mostly very senior journalists have been detained since 12 February for reporting that bonuses were paid to members

of the army’s special forces who staged a mutiny in the southeastern town of Adiaké.   Update REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS (RSF) IS RELIEVED TO LEARN THAT THE IVORIAN JUDICIAL AUTHORITIES

YESTERDAY (14 FEBRUARY) ORDERED THE PROVISIONAL RELEASE OF THE SIX MOSTLY VERY SENIOR JOURNALISTS HELD SINCE 12 FEBRUARY ON CHARGES OF “PUBLISHING FALSE NEWS” AND “INCITING ARMY PERSONNEL TO

INSUBORDINATION AND REBELLION.” RSF IS NONETHELESS CONCERNED THAT THE CHARGES HAVE NOT BEEN LIFTED. THE SIX JOURNALISTS ARE STILL UNDER JUDICIAL INVESTIGATION AND COULD STILL BE SUBJECTED

TO A CRIMINAL TRIAL. RSF URGES THE JUDICIAL AUTHORITIES TO DROP ALL THE CHARGES AGAINST THEM. The six journalists, who include three newspaper publishers and an editor, are being held in

cells at the gendarmerie’s Agban barracks in the Abidjan district of Williamsville. RSF is very worried by their detention, especially as media offences are decriminalized in Côte d’Ivoire.

The six detainees are COULIBALY VAMARA, publisher of _Soir Info_ and _L’Inter_; YACOUBA GBANÉ, publisher of _Le Temps_; BAMBA FRANCK MAMADOU, publisher of _Notre Voie_; HAMADOU ZIAO,

_L’Inter_’s editor; FERDINAND BAILLY of _Le Temps_; and JEAN BÉDEL GNAGO, _Soir Info_’s correspondent in Aboisso (a town near Adiaké). They are all charged with “publishing false news” and

“inciting army personnel to insubordination and rebellion” in articles published on 10 and 11 February about payment of bonuses to the Adiaké-based special forces who staged a mutiny for

more pay on 7-8 February. The government issued a statement denying the reports. “We call on the Ivorian authorities to respect their own laws and to release these six journalists at once,”

RSF editor-in-chief Virginie Dangles said. “As media offences are decriminalized in Côte d’Ivoire, journalists should not be jailed, regardless of what they report in their articles. Legal

recourse is available if what they write is considered preposterous or defamatory.” Gbané and Bailly were questioned for eight hours on 11 February at the gendarmerie’s department of

investigations on prosecutor-general Richard Christophe Adou’s orders, and were asked to name their sources within the special forces and defence ministry. The other journalists were

summoned for questioning the next day. If convicted on these charges, they face the possibility of jail terms of one to five years and fines of 300,000 to 3 million CFA francs. RSF points

out that article 68 of Côte d’Ivoire’s press law clearly states that “the penalty of imprisonment is excluded for press offences.” Only the National Press Council (CNP), which regulates the

media, has the power to impose penalties on journalists for violations. This is the third time since Alassane Ouattara became president that journalists have been arbitrarily detained for

media offences. Three _Notre Voie_ journalists – publisher CÉSAR ETOU, assistant editor DIDIER DÉPRI and chief political correspondent BOGA SIVORI – were arrested in November 2011 and were

held for 13 days before being tried and acquitted.