French Newspapers Le Monde, Liberation Say Burkina Faso Expelled Their Correspondents

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd April, 2023) The military authorities of Burkina Faso have expelled correspondents of the French daily newspaper Liberation and the African branch of Le Monde newspaper from the country, the representatives of both news outlets said on Sunday.

In December, Burkina Faso suspended the broadcasting of France's state-owned Radio France Internationale (RFI), followed by France 24 in March. The European Union criticized the authorities of Burkina Faso over the matter.

A correspondent of Le Monde Afrique, Sophie Douce, was deported from Burkina Faso on Saturday, along with a correspondent of Liberation, Agnes Faivre, on an order from Burkina Faso's state security directorate, Le Monde reported.

State security agents, wearing civilian clothes, came to Douce's house on Saturday morning and declared that her accreditation and press card had been revoked without specifying the reason, Le Monde noted.

Liberation said that the decision to expel its correspondent was unjustified. The daily reiterated its opposition to the ban on RFI and France 24, strongly condemning alleged attempts of Burkina Faso's ruling military junta to silence independent media.

Liberation specified that the decision to deport its journalist followed the publication of an investigation into a video with footage of violence against children and teenagers in barracks, serving as proof of murder.

Both correspondents reportedly have already arrived in Paris.

The relations between Burkina Faso, a former French colony, and Paris soured after Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, the leader of the interim government which came to power through a coup in 2022 and a supporter of strong ties with the former metropole, was ousted in September by a group of military officers led by Captain Ibrahim Traore in what became the second military takeover in the country in eight months.

In January, Burkina Faso officially ended all France-led operations on its territory, where French forces were present under the 2018 agreement according to which Paris was supposed to help the country combat militant Islamist groups.