One of Burkina Faso’s most well-known radio stations was halted for airing an interview that was deemed “insulting” to Niger’s new military leaders, but the junta-led government there said that the station could start transmitting on Monday (Sept. 11).
In a statement released on Sunday (Sept. 10) by the government, Communications Minister and spokesperson Rimtalba Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo stated that Radio Omega had its suspension reversed as of August 10.
In response to a request from Radio Omega, the government “very carefully examined” the request made by the OBM, a Burkinabe media monitoring organization.
It had listened to the “argument that ‘the radio team has learned the lessons of this sanction’,” he added.
According to the minister’s statement from Sunday, the government is still committed to press freedom, freedom of speech, and the “responsible” practise of journalism.
In any case, the need for “a media discourse that doesn’t compromise the chances of our collective victory against the forces of evil and domination of the peoples of the Sahel” is highlighted to media outlets.
On August 10, Radio Omega broadcast an interview with Ousmane Abdoul Moumouni, the spokeswoman for a recently formed Nigerien movement calling for the reinstatement of President Mohamed Bazoum.
On July 26, soldiers of the Presidential Guard deposed the elected president of Niger.
Minister Ouedraogo claimed Moumouni made “insulting comments with regard to the new Nigerien authorities” at the time the channel was shut down.
When the suspension was announced, he stated that it was “in the higher interests of the Nation.”
Alpha Barry, a journalist and former foreign minister, is the owner of the Omega Media Group, which includes Radio Omega.
Two military takeovers occurred in Burkina Faso last year, each partly motivated—as in Mali and Niger—by resentment at failures to quell a rising jihadist insurgency.
It quickly vowed to support Niger’s new authorities and joined Mali in announcing that any military action to bring Bazoum back would be viewed as a “declaration of war” against them.
The Burkinabe government recently removed the correspondents of the French newspapers Liberation and Le Monde and suspended the French TV networks France24, LCI, and Radio France Internationale (RFI).
