Ivorian nurse jailed for offensive Facebook post against President Ouattara

The authorities in Côte d'Ivoire have sentenced a nurse to three years in jail for making comments considered offensive on social media against President Alassane Ouattara.

The prosecutor's office said the charges were part of its efforts to combat misconduct on social media platforms, which it said was increasingly frequent.

The sentence comes months before the West African country's presidential election at the end of October.

Six youth leaders from the main opposition Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI) have been arrested since June over a social media post calling for mobilisation against the government.

Opposition figures excluded

PDCI party leader Tidjane Thiam is among several prominent opposition figures to have been excluded from the October 25 vote.

Tokpa Flan Japhet, a 43-year-old nurse, "was tried and sentenced on July 18 to 36 months in prison" and fined $8,500 "despite his request for a pardon," Abidjan's public prosecutor Oumar Braman Kone said in a statement on Monday.

Japhet committed the offence in a Facebook post, the authorities said.

"Neither repentance... nor a request for forgiveness has any effect on the reality of the offences," Kone said.

Another man, Moussa Diakate, was arrested after posting a video in which he "made death threats against supporters of a political group", the prosecutor said.

President Ouattara, 83, has not confirmed whether he will run for a fourth term, although he has been tapped by his party to do so.