Burkina Faso: Government denies coup attempt against Captain Ibrahim Traoré and suspends RFI broadcasting in Faso
The spokesman of the Burkinabe government, Jean-Emmanuel Ouédraogo, denied at the beginning of the weekend, the information relayed by some media, reporting an « attempted coup d’état », against the Supreme Chief of the army, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, on the night of Sunday to Monday.Thus, on Saturday, December 3, the government announced in a statement, « the immediate suspension until further notice » of Radio France Internationale (RFI), following serious failures on information conveyed.
« I think the minimum, without wanting to give anyone a journalistic lesson, is to go to the official source and try to cross-check the information. Handling such sensitive and serious material is exactly the opposite of what is expected of journalists in general.The President in his face-to-face with CSOs spoke of attempts to destabilize. « There are attempts to destabilize » and « there is an attempted coup » are not the same thing. The President said that we are aware that there are intentions, they are known and monitored and the situation is under control. »
Indeed, the government accuses RFI of having relayed a « message of intimidation » attributed to a terrorist leader. According to the government spokesman, through the relay of this information, RFI « contributes to a desperate maneuver of terrorist groups to deter the thousands of Burkinabè mobilized for the defense of the Fatherland.According to him, there was never any question of a coup attempt, because it requires « preparation and even the beginning of execution ».Jean-Emmanuel Ouédraogo, also justified that the government also accuses RFI, of having taken up in its press review of Friday « a false information, indicating that: »The President of the transition, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, ensures that an attempted coup d’état targeted his power' ».
However, the government reaffirms its commitment to freedom of the press and opinion, but also to the public right to information. Ouédraogo said the transition is not in a purge dynamic and the current authorities were aware that the events of September 30 that led to the coup « do not please everyone ». He therefore calls on journalists to be more professional.
Miss OLY
