Le Renouveau, the country's sole private newspaper, stopped publishing on May 18 after a series of attacks apparently stemming from the paper's affiliation with the opposition MRD party. Police in the capital, Djibouti City, raided the paper's offices in February and seized two computers and printing equipment. No warrant was issued or explanation given. On May 3, Djibouti City's special crime unit detained Le Renouveau Managing Editor Houssein Ahmed Farah for 10 days and newspaper distributor Hared Abdallah Barreh for three days. The arrests were related to an April article concerning an alleged sex scandal involving a prominent businessman. On May 13, police from the special crime unit ransacked the offices of Le Renouveau, seizing equipment that had replaced what the paper lost in the February raid. Days later, four of its vendors were beaten and detained by police for four days.

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