According to Le Monde and Liberation, two French newspapers, Burkina Faso expelled two of the newspapers’ journalists on Sunday. The newspapers charged that the authorities were attempting to stifle free expression by intensifying their crackdown on foreign media.
According to Liberation, the authorities were upset with its recent probe into allegations that children and teenagers were murdered in an armed forces base.
Agnes Faivre, a reporter for Liberation, and Sophie Douce, a reporter for Le Monde, were reportedly called separately for interrogation by the military authorities on Friday and later informed of their expulsion. According to Liberation, they arrived in Paris early on Sunday.
Liberation said in a statement on its website that the two are “journalists of perfect integrity, who worked in Burkina Faso legally, with valid visas and accreditations… We strongly protest against these absolutely unjustified expulsions.”
On March 27, the Burkinabe government released a statement denying a Liberation story about alleged murders committed by its forces.
Since Burkina Faso’s military overthrew the government in a coup in September, relations between France and the west African nation have drastically deteriorated. Since then, the military has ordered the departure of French forces from the nation and shut down broadcasts of RFI radio and television channel France 24.
Le Monde Director Jérôme Fenoglio stated in a statement that “these two expulsions mark a new major setback in the freedom to inform on the situation in Burkina Faso.” Obviously, he said, Douce’s reportage “ended up seeming intolerable to the regime of Ibrahim Traoré, transition president for six months.”
The statement read, “These restrictions on freedom of information are unacceptable and the sign of a power that refuses to allow its actions to be questioned.” Earlier, the Burkinabe government rejected the piece and charged the publication with attempting to malign the armed forces.
On March 27, the government issued a statement in which it “strongly condemns these manipulations disguised as journalism to tarnish the image of a country of honest men.”
In the past ten years, Islamist militant groups that originated in Burkina Faso’s neighbor Mali have spread throughout other West African nations and former French colonies in the area. Despite the presence of foreign forces, including French troops, in the Sahel area south of the Sahara, thousands have died and more than 2 million have been displaced.
Since 2020, two military takeovers in Burkina Faso and two in Mali have resulted from frustrations over the authorities’ failure to reestablish security.
