afrol News, 28 January - Private publishers in Central African Republic have kept newspapers from stands in protest to what they called unjustly suspension of an independent newspaper by the government.

The High Council for Communication (HCC) issued a decision to suspend publication of the country’s popular newspaper Le Citoyen on 9 January for a month starting from 10 January this year.

The Commission had earlier issued a warning to the paper in September last year for disrespecting the country’s members of parliament and calling them stray dogs in one of its publications.

The independent private press group, GEPPIC said Le Citoyen newspaper was unjustly punished by the Commission when it was given a month suspension. GEPPIC and other journalists’ groups had on several occasions demanded the dismissal of the Commission accusing it of being incompetent and violating the laws at its disposal.

Private newspapers criticise government policies and alleged corruption, but have a limited impact because of government harassment and suspensions of publications by the government’s orders.

The CAR has been unstable since its independence from France in 1960 and is one of the least-developed countries in the world. It has endured several coups and a notorious period under a self-declared emperor, Jean-Bedel Bokassa, who headed one of the country’s brutal regimes.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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