The arrested journalists are being detained at a police camp in Abidjan, the commercial capital.
Six journalists in Cote d’Ivoire have been arrested for disseminating “false information” regarding a mutiny launched by aggrieved soldiers.
According to AFP, the journalists reported that soldiers at the army barracks in Adiake protested over poor pay and fired shots into the air.
Soldiers across the West African country had in January mutinied over low pay and other grievances.
As news of the new mutiny began to spread, the government announced, "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." Authorities subsequently arrested the journalists.
Among the journalists arrested were the editor and owner of the daily newspapers L’Inter and SorInfo, respectively. The editors and owners of Le Temps and Notre Voie were similarly arrested.
The arrested journalists are being detained at a police camp in Abidjan, the commercial capital.
The public prosecutor said the six journalists would be questioned in order to “find out where responsibility lies” for the alleged false information published in their newspapers.
Despite the Ivorian government’s outrage over the journalists’ mutiny stories, soldiers of the Cote d’Ivoire military did in fact mutiny between Tuesday and Thursday, according to a high-ranking military source who spoke to AFP.
The troops, however, ceased their rebellion and “apologized to the authorities.”
