That same month Lama Fofana, publisher of Liberation newspaper, which is associated with the opposition Republican Rally, was shot at while driving to the newspaper s offices. In October, unknown persons looted Liberation s technical offices and stoned the watchman to death. An Abidjan court in October indicted the publisher and an editor of Le Populaire newspaper on charges of distributing false news and sentenced them to six months in prison. They had incorrectly reported that police had killed a student demonstrator but had run a correction the next day. The publisher was later released.
Judges are political appointees without tenure and are highly susceptible to external interference.
Legal provisions regarding search warrants, rules of evidence, and pretrial detention are often ignored. In many rural areas, traditional courts still prevail, especially in the handling of minor matters and family law. Very harsh prison conditions are reportedly ameliorated only for prisoners wealthy enough to pay for special treatment. Many deaths from diseases aggravated by poor diet and inadequate or nonexistent medical attention have been reported. A large portion of inmates are pretrial detainees who sometimes wait for years for a court date.