New York, US - The government of the Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, who pledged to uphold democracy in a Friday meeting with the US President Barack Obama, has suspended a newspaper over a reprinted opinion column criticizing the White House meeting, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ said Thursday. On Monday, Eugène Dié Kacou, the Ouattara-appointed chair of the state-run National Press Council, suspended Le Temps, a daily favorable to deposed former president Laurent Gbagbo, for 12 days in connection with a Friday column critical of the president, according to news reports.

“The suspension of Le Temps for reprinting an opinion article critical of President Ouattara appears to be an act of political censorship,” said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. “We call on the Ivorian National Press Council to rescind this suspension immediately because it is contrary to the democratic values Ouattara had publicly sworn to defend in Washington.”

The column, written by Hassane Magued, a blogger critical of Ouattara, was originally published on 26 July on the Germany-based news website LynxTogo.info, according to CPJ research.

The author called Obama a “gang boss” and the recently elected presidents of Benin, Niger, Guinea, and Cote d'Ivoire “the Black Daltons of Africa”— a reference to the 19th-century American outlaws immortalized in the Lucky Luke comic book series— while describing an alleged conspiracy between them to seize Africa’s riches.

In its ruling, the council called the writings “unacceptable insults, offences,” and accusations against heads of state, according to CPJ research.

However, Ivorian journalists told CPJ that pro-Ouattara newspapers have published strident anti-Gbagbo opinions before and not faced sanctions.

In an interview with CPJ, Kacou dismissed suggestions that the council was biased in favor of the Ouattara government with references to the government’s suspensions of newspapers during three of the most recent regimes in Cote d'Ivoire.

“We are at ease. We have suspended the pro-Ouattara, the pro-Gbabgo, the pro-Bédié,” Kacou said.

The council previously suspended Le Temps for six editions over a June 11 column by reporter Germain Sehoué, alleging that the Ouattara government was dominated by northern Ivorian ethnic groups, according to news reports.

The council also suspended Sehoué from practicing journalism for two months, accusing his writings of “inciting tribal hatred and revolt” and “threatening the consolidation of peace in the country”.

Pana 05/08/2011