The ruling junta in Burkina Faso cut the broadcast of France 24 on its territory, following an interview with the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a decision that the French channel “strongly deplores”.
“By opening its antennas to the first head of AQIM, France 24 is not only acting as a communication agency for these terrorists, worse it offers a space for legitimizing terrorist actions and hate speech conveyed to satisfy the evil aims of this organization on Burkina Faso,” said a statement signed by government spokesman Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo on Monday.
“The government has therefore decided in full responsibility, and in the name of the best interests of the Nation, to suspend sine die the broadcasting of France 24 programs throughout the national territory”, continues the text.
The channel’s signal was cut around 9 a.m. (GMT and local) Monday morning, noted an AFP journalist in Ouagadougou.
On March 6, France 24 had broadcast, on the occasion of a chronicle on set, written answers from Abou Obeida Youssef al-Annabi, the head of AQIM, to about fifteen questions posed by the journalist of the chain Frenchwoman and specialist in jihadist issues, Wassim Nasr.
“We believe that this is part of a process of legitimizing the terrorist message and we know the effects of this message in our country. We cannot accept today that a media opens its antennas to this hate speech”, has said Mr. Ouedraogo, interviewed by national television RTB, Monday noon.
“We are not going to tremble every time we have to take a decision that goes in the direction of restoring our territory. The government is not compromising,” he continued.
In a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France “regrets the decision taken by the Burkinabè authorities to suspend the broadcasting of France 24” while reaffirming “its constant and determined commitment to press freedom”.
For its part, the management of France 24 deplores this decision in a press release and “contests the baseless accusations which call into question the professionalism of the channel”, being indignant “at the outrageous and defamatory remarks of the Burkinabè government”.
This specifies that it did not give the floor to the head of AQIM directly but through a “chronicle” which made it possible to offer “the necessary distance and contextualization”, and to confirm “for the first time” that the French hostage Olivier Dubois “since released, was retained by AQIM”.
At the beginning of December, the ruling junta in Ouagadougou had already suspended the broadcasting of Radio France Internationale (RFI), from the same group as France 24, France Médias Monde.
RFI was notably accused of having relayed “a message of intimidation” attributed to a “terrorist leader”.
“The security crisis that the country is going through must not be a pretext to muzzle the media and prevent journalists from covering it with full responsibility and independence,” reacted Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which also calls on “the authorities to reconsider their decision”.
For a year, RFI and France 24 have also been suspended in Mali, also governed by a military junta.
The two media, which closely cover African news, are widely followed throughout French-speaking Africa. France 24 said on Monday that it was followed in Burkina Faso “by a third of the population every week and more than 60% of executives and leaders”.
Since 2015, Burkina has been caught in a spiral of violence perpetrated by jihadist groups linked to the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda, which have caused a total of 10,000 deaths – civilians and soldiers – according to NGOs, and some two million moved.
Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who came to power in a putsch six months ago, expressed in February his “intact determination” to fight the jihadists, despite the multiplication of attacks.
Relations between France and Burkina have deteriorated since Captain Traoré came to power.
In January, the Ouagadougou authorities demanded and obtained the departure of the French Saber force, a contingent of 400 special forces for the andijihadist struggle in the Sahel. They had also asked for the departure of the French ambassador, Luc Hallade, who was recalled to Paris for “consultations” and has still not been replaced.
Finally, in early March, Burkina denounced a military assistance agreement signed in 1961 with France.
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27/03/2023 16:59:08 – Ouagadougou (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
