Attacks on the Press in 2006 - Snapshots: Burkina Faso
| Publisher | Committee to Protect Journalists |
| Publication Date | February 2007 |
| Cite as | Committee to Protect Journalists, Attacks on the Press in 2006 - Snapshots: Burkina Faso, February 2007, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/47c5674cc.html [accessed 22 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Security forces in April detained and questioned Antoine Bationo, a journalist with the private daily Le Pays, after he interviewed former soldiers accused of attempting a coup, according to local sources. The gendarmerie also summoned the paper's publication director, Boureima Jérémie Sigue, and questioned him for several hours. Both journalists were released without charge, but a seized recording device was not immediately returned.
The examining magistrate investigating the 1998 murder of journalist Norbert Zongo dropped charges in July against the only indicted suspect, presidential guard member Marcel Kafando. The judge cited a lack of evidence. Press freedom and human rights activists expressed outrage at the decision and a lawyer for the victim's family said he would appeal. An independent commission of inquiry had concluded in May 1999 that Kafando was one of six "serious suspects" in the murder.
