Eight newspapers that closed last week citing threats linked to the dispute over the Côte d’Ivoire presidency were back on the news stands on Monday, reaffirming their support for Alassane Ouattara.
The leading pro-Ouattara dailies stopped publishing on March 1 saying they were being threatened and harassed by supporters of Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to leave the presidency after losing elections in November.
They announced in a statement that they had decided to reappear to “fill the void of real information, to continue the fight to protect democratic gains”.
“They are returning also and above all to accompany and support the gradual installation of the elected president, Alassane Ouattara,” said the papers, which are grouped in a collective.
The newspapers also criticised the National Press Council (CNP) media regulatory body, which is controlled by Gbagbo supporters, for threatening the freedom of the media.
The papers are: Le Patriote, Le Mandat, L’Intelligent d’Abidjan, Le Democrate, L’expression, Le Jour Plus, Nord-Sud and Le Nouveau Reveil. — AFP