Burkina Faso suspends French radio RFI until further notice

First modification: 04/12/2022 – 15:15

Burkina Faso ordered on Saturday the “immediate suspension and until further notice” of Radio France Internationale, RFI, accusing it of having broadcast false news and an “intimidating message” attributed to a “terrorist leader”, as announced by Burkinabe government spokesman Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo.

“The Government has decided to immediately suspend the broadcast of Radio France Internationale programs throughout the national territory until further notice,” the authorities said in a statement released this Saturday.

The Burkinabé government’s accusations came after RFI, as well as several local media, reported that a “coup attempt” had taken place in the country.

The leader of the coup d’état on September 30, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, affirmed on Thursday that an attempt to “destabilize” the regime had taken place last weekend.

But the next day, Ouédraogo denied the published news, saying that Traoré “never mentioned the term coup attempt.”

In addition, the Burkinabé government accused RFI of having shared “a message of intimidation of the population attributed to a terrorist leader”.

Earlier in the week, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islam and Muslim Support Group had released a video in which one of its leaders in Burkina Faso threatened to attack villages defended by the Homeland Defense Volunteers. , VDP, civilian auxiliaries of the Army who fight against terrorist groups in the country.

By transmitting this message, RFI “thus contributes to a desperate maneuver by terrorist groups to dissuade the thousands of Burkinabe mobilized in defense of their country,” the statement said.

RFI denounces “totally baseless accusations”

In a statement published this Sunday, December 4, the RFI Journalists Society “condemned” the suspension of the station, denouncing a decision that was based on “the alleged dissemination of false information and serious deficiencies” and “an erroneous reading of the work of our journalists”.

“We find it important to remember that RFI’s priorities are, and always have been, plurality of opinion and the people to whom it gives voice, as well as faithful and scrupulous field work and an unwavering commitment to freedom of information” , said RFI in its official statement.

“We, the RFI editorial staff, give our full support to our colleagues, correspondents and staff working from Paris, who cover the information in Burkina Faso. The quality of their work is never questioned,” he said.

He added that the France Media Monde group, to which RFI belongs, “will explore all the ways to restore the broadcasting of the radio station. According to the RFI leadership, the station is followed every week in Burkina Faso “by more than 40% of the population and more than 70% of the opinion leaders”.

RFI already suffered a definitive suspension at the end of last April along with the French public television channel France 24 by the Government of Mali, a decision described as “serious” by French President Emmanuel Macron.

This year, the French military operation Barkhane, involved in the fight against jihadism in Mali, ended in a context of diplomatic crisis between Paris and Bamako. In the Sahel region, which is suffering from the spread of terrorism, the presence of French troops is increasingly criticized by the local population.

Two coups in eight months

Burkina Faso experienced its second coup so far this year on September 30, after the one led on January 24 by Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. Ibrahim Traoré took over as transitional president, which should last 21 months if he keeps his word.

The seizure of power by the military took place on both occasions in a context of discontent between the population and the Army. Since 2015, the country has suffered frequent jihadist attacks carried out by groups linked to both Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, which have displaced almost two million people.

The current calendar foresees the return of the constitutional order on July 1, 2024 at the latest.

With EFE and AFP