Police chief sacked after French journalist killed

The government of Cote d'Ivoire has sacked its chief of police following the cold-blooded murder of French radio journalist Jean Helene by a uniformed policeman in Abidjan. The government announced the move on Thursday night as the body of the Radio France Internationale's (RFI) correspondent in Cote d'Ivoire, was flown home on a French military aircraft. According to eye witnesses, police sergeant Theodore Sery Dago shot Helene at point blank range outside police headquarters on Tuesday night while the journalist was waiting to interview a group of opposition political activists who were about to be released after several days in detention. The policeman was disarmed by colleagues and arrested immediately after the incident. He appeared before a court martial in Abidjan on Friday, charged with murder. Military prosecutor Ange Kessi, told reporters: "It is a very heinous crime which had no justification either military or moral....I can tell you that given the facts, he risks at least 20 years in prison." The government said after a cabinet meeting on Thursday that General Adolphe Baby had been removed as Director General of the National Police following this incident and would be replaced by Colonel Yapo Kouassi. However, Internal Security Minister Martin Bleou was quick to deny suggestions that Sery Dago was acting under orders when he shot the journalist. "The first results of the inquiry under way, indicate that he was acting on his own. He even disobeyed instructions from his superiors," Bleou told reporters. "This is a deliberate killing and the process (of investigation) will not take longer than a fortnight." Asked by IRIN why the government had decided to sack the police chief if it believed Sery Dago, 28, had acted alone, President Laurent Gbagbo said this was a political decision which was the government's right to make. Gbagbo made the remarks during a meeting with the foreign press in Cote d'Ivoire on Friday night. He expressed regret at the killing of the French journalist, adding that he could "find no explanation" for the murder. He gave assurances that the policeman would be tried for the crime. But Gbagbo added: "This is war and in war-time people get passionate." Asked repeatedly to give assurances for the safety of foreign journalists in Cote d'Ivoire, the president avoided committing himself to concrete measures. He suggested instead that foreign correspondents in the country, who have repeatedly been attacked by pro-government sectors of the local media as apologists for rebels occupying the north of the country, should simply meet with the Ivorian media to discuss their differences. Police sources told IRIN that Bleou had been wanting to get rid of Baby as police chief ever since he took over the internal security ministry last month, because of his failure to control corruption and lawless behaviour by his officers. They said sore points included the shooting of a taxi driver in Abidjan last month by a policeman who had been demanded a bribe from him. The killing led to a two-day strike by bus and taxi drivers. This week's murder of the French journalist was the final straw. Meanwhile, Senegal ordered the expulsion of RFI correspondent Sophie Malibeaux on Friday, accusing her of tendentious reporting of the separatist rebellion in the southern region of Casamance. The expulsion was ordered on 7 October and was confirmed by President Abdoulaye Wade after a meeting with senior RFI officials in Dakar last Wednesday. Sources close to the meeting described it as "stormy." Alpha Sall, secretary general of the Union of Journalists of West Africa, condemned Malbeaux's expulsion from a country which has got one of the best reputations for government tolerance of dissent in Africa. "Hard line regimes in the region will see it as a signal of encouragement to crack down harder on the press," he cautioned. The international press freedom watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres also condemned Malbeaux's expulsion. "This country was for several years an example to be followed in terms of press freedom," said RSF Secretary General Robert Menard. "The situation is beginning to deteriorate in a worrying manner."