Burkina Faso / Africa

  

Burkina Faso suspends live political broadcasts by media

Abuja, Nigeria, May 19, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Burkina Faso authorities to lift its suspension of live political broadcasts in the country. The three-month ban comes as Burkina Faso prepares to hold elections in October.

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A poster advertises a screening of Timbuktu at the Pan-African Film Festival in Burkina Faso. The Oscar-nominated film on Islamic militancy was barred from a Paris suburb. (AFP/Ahmed Ouoba)

Ban of India’s Daughter and other films silences debate on key issues

What do Delhi, Beijing, and Villiers-sur-Marne have in common, but Ouagadougou does not? The first three recently banned access to films their governments deemed inappropriate. But a film festival in the fourth, the capital of Burkina Faso in West Africa, is stepping up security to show an acclaimed but controversial movie about Islamic militancy in…

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African Court upholds appeal against criminal defamation

Cape Town, South Africa, December 5, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today’s ruling by the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights in Addis Ababa that criminal defamation should be used only in restricted circumstances and that imprisonment for defamation violates freedom of expression. The court also upheld the appeal of Issa Lohé Konaté,…

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Protesters demonstrate against a proposed amendment to Burkina Faso's constitution that would allow President Blaise Compaore to extend his term. (AFP/Issouf Sanogo)

Press in Burkina Faso must be protected amid anti-government protests

Lagos, Nigeria, October 30, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed that protesters stormed and looted the offices of Burkina Faso’s national broadcaster Radiodiffusion Television du Burkina in the capital, Ouagadougou, today. Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets to protest a constitutional amendment that would allow President Blaise Compaore to seek re-election next…

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Police in Burkina Faso seize journalist’s camera, deletes images

A police officer on July 24, 2014, seized the camera of Hippolyte Sama, a photojournalist with the independent newsmagazine Fasozine, while he was photographing relatives of victims of an Air Algeria plane that crashed in northern Mali, according to news reports.

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Lohé Issa Konaté (Lydia Ouédraogo)

Jailed Burkinabe journalist appeals to African Court

Journalist Lohé Issa Konaté has been imprisoned in Burkina Faso since he was convicted in October of criminal defamation over articles in private weekly L’Ouragan alleging corruption and abuse of power at the office of the public prosecutor. In May, an appeals court rejected his appeal and upheld the 12-month sentence, according to defense counsel Halidou…

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Journalists working for state media protest Tuesday in front of the Communications Ministry in Ouagadougou against authorities' meddling in their work. (AFP/Ahmed Ouoba)

Burkina Faso state media journalists protest censorship

In Burkina Faso, tens of journalists from state media today held a sit-in in front of the Ministry of Communications in the capital Ouagadougou to protest what they deem to be excessive government censorship of news coverage.

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Authorities in Burkina Faso suspend newspaper

Burkina Faso’s state-run media regulatory agency imposed a seven-day suspension on private daily Le Quotidien on December 13, 2012, after accusing its editor of repeatedly violating the press law, according to news reports.

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Burkinabe journalist convicted for criminal defamation

New York, October 31, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the criminal convictions of two journalists and the suspension of their newspaper in Burkina Faso on charges of criminal defamation in connection with their allegations of corrupt practices in the state prosecutor’s office.

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Samuel Kiendrebeogo (Courtesy Voice of America)

Samuel Kiendrebeogo: 1949-2012

The African media community lost a central voice this week with the passing of Samuel Kiendrebeogo, the veteran host of weekly media magazine Médias d’Afrique et D’Ailleurs on Voice of America’s French service. Sam, as he was known, died while vacationing in his native Burkina Faso. He was 63.

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