Patrice Yao, managing editor of Le Nouveau Réveil, a pro-opposition daily newspaper based in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, and other officials of the media group, received threatening SMS messages and telephone calls warning them to be careful.
The threats came at a time when the Rallye des Houphouétistes pour la Démocratie et pour la Paix (RHDP), a coalition of the four main opposition parties, namely, Parti Democratique de Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI), Rassemblement Des Républicains (RDR), Union pour la Démocratie et la Paix en Côte d’Ivoire (UDPCI) and Mouvement des Forces d’Avenir (MFA), was preparing for a peaceful march dubbed Liberation of Côte d’Ivoire scheduled for May 15.
Some of the messages which described the officials of Le Réveil media group as “pro-rebels who want to burn the country down” stated that the homes of the officials were known to them (callers and those sending the terse and email messages).
Le Reveil media group said it would hold the authorities responsible if their rights were infringed upon.