Burkina Faso’s military government has suspended the broadcast of France’s Radio France Internationale in the West African state over what it said were false reports and giving voice to armed groups.
In a statement on Saturday, the government said the state-run RFI broadcast a message earlier that day from a leader of an armed group in which he threatened the population.
The government said RFI also repeated a press report – which it denied – that Burkina Faso’s President Captain Ibrahim Traore, who seized power in a coup in September, had said there had been an attempted coup trying to unseat him.
“In view of all of the above, the government has decided the immediate suspension of the broadcast of all RFI programmes across the national territory,” said the statement signed by government spokesman Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo.
RFI responded by saying it “protests against the totally unfounded accusations calling into question its professionalism”.
Credit: Aljazeera.com
