MARCH 29, 2005
Posted: April 14, 2005
Fofana Mambé, Soir Info
ATTACKED
Mambé, a reporter for the private daily Soir Info, was viciously attacked while attempting to cover a street demonstration by police officers in the commercial capital, Abidjan. Local sources said police officers protesting non-payment of war-time bonuses in front of the Internal Security Ministry assaulted Mambé with night sticks as the journalist photographed the demonstration.
Mambé’s assailants had identified him as a journalist, and his car was marked “Press,” a source at the newspaper told CPJ. The reporter was treated at a hospital for head wounds and a swollen eye following the assault.
Ivory Coast has been engulfed in civil conflict since an attempted army uprising in 2002 led to anti-government rebels seizing control of the northern part of the country.