Burkina Faso on Saturday ordered "
the immediate suspension and until further notice
" of Radio France Internationale (RFI), accusing it in particular of having relayed a "
message of intimidation
" attributed to a "
terrorist leader
", announced the Spokesperson for the Burkinabè government.
Earlier this week, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM) released a video in which one of its leaders in Burkina Faso threatened to attack defended villages by Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), civilian auxiliaries of the army, which has just recruited 90,000 in three weeks to deal with the resurgence of jihadist attacks.
By having relayed this message, French public radio "
thus contributes to a desperate maneuver by terrorist groups to deter the thousands of Burkinabè mobilized for the defense of the Fatherland
", indicates a press release signed by the spokesperson, Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo.
Attempted coup, "false information" according to the regime
The government also criticizes RFI for having taken up in its press review on Friday "
false information, indicating that: "The president of the transition, captain Ibrahim Traoré, assures that an attempted coup d'état targeted his power"
.
The statement recalls that "
on November 3, the government had already expressed its indignation at the tendentious attitude of the journalists of this media (RFI) and their propensity to discredit the struggle in which the people of Burkina Faso are engaged for more freedom and dignity
”.
Burkina, the scene of two military coups in eight months and plagued by jihadist violence since 2015, is the second country in the region to ban RFI this year after Mali, also led by putschist soldiers and hit by the jihadists, in March.