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| Africa: West |
| Ivory Coast Cop Guilty of Killing Reporter |
| 2004-01-23 |
| EFL - from BBC A civilian court convicted a policeman Thursday of killing a French radio reporter in the West African nation’s commercial capital, and ordered him imprisoned for 17 years. Do 3rd world developing nations generally put in place lighter sentencing guidelines because life is worth less in those places? Is the sentencing reduced for killing journalists or foriegn nationals? Might be best to check the menu before visiting the Ivory Coast. "I’m innocent, I’m innocent," the handcuffed policeman, Sgt. Theodore Sery Dago, shouted after a judge read the verdict finding him guilty of voluntary homicide and ordering him to serve his sentence in a military prison. What is voluntary homicide? The courtroom — earlier cleared by security forces of angry supporters threatening to attack French expatriates and whites in general if Dago were found guilty — was somber. Is attacking French people a ’hate’ crime in the Ivory Coast? A lot of Americans are starting to hate the French. Will John Kerry introduce legislation to protect people who look French? Ivory Coast, a former French colony where anti-foreigner sentiment spiraled during a 9-month civil war, officially declared the conflict over in July, but tensions remain high. What’s the body count since the conflict ended in July? Loyalists in the government-held south have explicitly accused French journalists and other foreign media of siding with the West African nation’s rebels, based in the north and west. Are the French jounalists honing in on Al Jazeera’s turf? Abidjan, one of West Africa’s most developed cities, has seen recent anti-France demonstrations turn violent. I guess Abidjians need to lighten up and just make fun of the French like the rest of us. |
| Posted by:Super Hose |
| #2 SH - I don't hate the French. Hate is too potent an emotion to waste on the French. I have utter disdain for any people who have disconnected themselves from reality to the degree the French have, and consider them a waste of good oxygen. Let whatever will happen to the French: no matter what it is, it will be deserved. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-1-23 1:56:58 PM |
| #1 17 years for a reporter? I'd thought he'd get no more then half of that. |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2004-1-23 12:58:45 PM |