Police in Benin beat up two journalists working for private media and violently broke up a demonstration they were covering at a university near the commercial capital, Cotonou, AFP reported on Friday. AFP said Joel Gbegan, of Golfe FM radio, and Laurent Akobi of 'La Cloche' daily newspaper were attacked on Thursday while covering the violent dispersal by police of the protest march at Abomey Calavi University, some 25 km north of Cotonou.
The Union des journalistes de la presse privee du Benin (UJPB) condemned the act on Friday. It appealed to journalists and citizens to fight for press freedom and legally challenge such abuses so that they would not be repeated. As a sign of support for their two colleagues, the UJPB did not attend an official ceremony at which the Minister of Culture and Communication, Gaston Zossou, was to have offered his new year wishes to the press.
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