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Ivorian and international media organisations have denounced the detention of Ivorian journalist Junior Ouattara, accused by the state of participating in an attempted coup on 7 January.
Ouattara, who works for Agence France Presse (AFP), had covered the attempted coup. He was arrested on Wednesday by agents of the Directorate of Territorial Surveillance, who handcuffed him and took him away in an unmarked car, AFP said.
Honorat de Yedaigne, the head of the Union nationales de journalistes de Cote d’Ivoire (UNJCI), denounced the journalist’s arrest and the manner in which he was arrested. He told IRIN on Thursday his organisation was calling for Ouattara’s unconditional release.
Reporters sans frontieres (RSF - Reporters Without Borders) made a similar call in a letter addressed to Interior Minister Emile Boga Doudou.
“This journalist merely exercised his profession and should never have been bothered,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Menard said. “If the authorities wanted to question him in connection with their investigation, they should have summoned him.”
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions