Six journalists held over ‘false information’

SIX journalists, including three media owners, have been arrested in the Ivory Coast for “spreading false information” about a mutiny by security forces, their newspapers and the public prosecutor said.

The move came after elite forces became the latest troops to protest over pay in recent weeks in the West African nation, firing into the air in the army barracks town of Adiake.

“Regarding recent action taken by the military... we have come to believe that certain media organisations are spreading false information in a bid to encourage soldiers to revolt,” said a statement from the public prosecutor on Sunday.

The editor and owner of the independent dailies L’Inter and Soir- Info were arrested and held in a police camp in the capital Abidjan, along with the editors and owners of the opposition newspapers Le Temps and Notre Voie.

They were arrested on suspicion of breaking the law which forbids inciting rebellion among the military, attacking state authority and publishing false information relating to defence and state security, the statement added.

Troops first launched a mutiny over pay on January 5.

Those protests subsided when the government reached a deal with 8 500 mutineers, agreeing to give them 12-million CFA francs (R258 000) each.

However more soldiers have since taken to the streets demanding similar bonuses. — AFP