RFI and France 24 non-grata media in Mali. The military junta in power in the country ordered on the night of Wednesday to Thursday the suspension of the broadcasting of the radio station and the television channel of the group France media world RFI and France 24. In a statement, Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga , spokesperson for the government, justifies this decision with supposed “false allegations” abuses committed by the Malian army and reported by the two French media.
The Malian government “categorically rejects these false allegations against the valiant Fama” (Malian Armed Forces) and “initiates a procedure […] to suspend until further notice the broadcasting of RFI […] and France 24”, clarifies the text. Specifically, the junta believes that “these false allegations” were partly reported in a report broadcast on March 14 and 15, in which RFI gave the floor to alleged victims of abuses allegedly committed by the Malian army and the private Russian group Wagner. In his press release, Colonel Maiga “prohibits all national radio and television stations, as well as Malian news sites and newspapers, from rebroadcasting and/or publishing RFI and France 24 programs and press articles”.
The two antennas compared to the “Mille Collines” radio station
Maiga believes that “the actions of RFI and France 24 resemble, in the recent past, the practices and the infamous role of the radio Thousand Hills», which encouraged the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Such a suspension of two major foreign news media has no recent precedent in Mali. RFI and France 24, which closely cover African news, are widely followed in the country. However, the broadcasts of the two media continued on Thursday morning despite the announced suspension.
On its website, France Médias Monde, the parent company of RFI and France 24, states “[prendre] act and [déplorer] this advert. The group “recalls its attachment to freedom of information and to the professional and balanced work of its teams of journalists”. In a tweet, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) “strongly condemns the suspension of RFI and France 24 ordered by the ruling junta” affirming “that this is an attack on the freedom and independence of information that will deprive Malians of important media and will only reinforce the ostracization of the country”. The NGO takes the opportunity to recall that, since the beginning of the year, a journalist from the Jeune Afrique media has been expelled from the country and that a “a new intrusive accreditation system that undermines the secrecy of sources has been put in place” in the service of a “patriotic treatment” some information.
Thursday at midday, the European Union also reacted judging “unacceptable” the decision of the Malian junta to suspend the broadcasting of RFI and France 24 based on “unfounded accusations”said EU spokesperson Nabila Massrali, during a press briefing, deploring a ” flight forward “ of the junta.
Update at 12.45 p.m. with the reaction of the European Union.