France 24 channel suspended in Burkina Faso
The government of Burkina Faso has suspended all broadcasts of the French media house, France 24 in the country.
This decision is contained in a release signed by the country’s Minister of communication, Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo on March 27th.
In the release, the Minister accuses the French channel of serving as a communication agent for the terrorist group AQMI whose leader intervened a few days ago on the media.
They had aired an interview with Yezid Mebarek, also known as Abu Ubaydah Yusuf al-Anabi, who claimed the title of “Emir of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb” in 2020 after a French raid killed his predecessor.
He noted that by offering the head of AQMI Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb a platform to reach a wide audience, France 24 is offering a space of legitimacy to terrorist actions and hate speech in the country. This, he says, also means the channel legitimizes the barbaric actions of the terrorist group.
