TV presenter in Ivory Coast convicted for on-air "rape demonstration"

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Ivory Coast
A feminist activist holds a placard reading "No to rape culture" during a demonstration against the television channel Nouvelle Chaine Ivorienne (NCI) on September 1, 2021. © Sia Kambouli, AFP

On Wednesday, an Ivory Coast television host was found guilty of glorifying rape and given a one-year suspended prison term for encouraging a convicted rapist he invited onto his prime-time show to use a mannequin to imitate a sexual assault.

A representative for the Ivory Coast's legal system told Reuters that the court also fined the presenter, Yves de Mbella, 2 million CFA francs ($3,619.91), and barred him from leaving Abidjan, the country's commercial city, for a year.

According to the spokeswoman, the man who appeared on the show was sentenced to two years in prison.

De Mbella has issued an apology for a segment in which he urged his guest to demonstrate how he raped women, assisted him in adjusting the female mannequin, and inquired whether the victims "enjoyed it"

De Mbella claimed on Tuesday that in the episode, which broadcast on the Nouvelle Chaine Ivoirienne (NCI) private television network on Monday, he was attempting to "raise awareness" but that he had "made an error"

NCI also apologized and canceled de Mbella's show's final episode, which was set to air on Friday. Nearly 50,000 people have signed an online petition requesting for de Mbella's show to be canceled.

The Ivory Coast's independent communications council suspended de Mbella for 30 days on Tuesday, claiming that the piece promoted rape and insulted women's dignity.

Publish : 2021-09-02 13:00:00

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