SECTOR 1 Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country minimally meets aspects of the indicator. 3 Country meets many aspects of indicator but progress may be too recent to judge. 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator. 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator and has been doing so over time. Average score: 4,9 1.2 The right to freedom of expression is practised and citizens, including journalists, are asserting their rights without fear. Though the principle of Freedom of Expression is established in the Constitution as well as in the laws and regulatory instruments, its realisation is questionable. The volatility of Freedom of Expression and, to a certain extent, press freedom is due to the exceptional situation of Ivory Coast since the start of the political and military crisis at the end of the 90s. Despite this, certain panel members take President Laurent Gbagbo at his word. According to them, “freedom of speech exists” and no journalist has really been harassed since the entry into effect of the 2004 Media Act. Other panel members, on the contrary, talk of “censorship regarding certain issues”. Citizens in general and journalists in particular, are sometimes sensitive to certain issues even though this does not stop them from reporting on them. Social and religious groups or political associations are particularly sensitive issues. In August 2009, a documentary entitled “The true face of the religious” earned the director (a journalist of RTI, Yo Claude Armand) some threats. In another instance, FESCI (Federation of students in Ivory Coast) is a threat to the Freedom of Expression on the campus and outside of the university environment. On 21 May 2007, the student organisation violently attacked the headquarters of the Ivorian Human Rights League (LIDHO), situated near the University, on the pretext that the CNEC (Coordination of Higher Education Teachers and Researchers in Ivory Coast) holds its meetings there in order to initiate strike activities of the teaching profession. One of the panel members acknowledges the case but assesses it as an isolated incident that does not in any way imply there is a fear to express oneself. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER IVORY COAST 2009 75