The Minister of Communications and Government Spokesperson for Burkina Faso, Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo, said that an article published in Jeune Afrique, titled ‘Tensions persist in Burkina Faso’s army’ was 'misleading'. It followed an earlier article published on 21 September, that Ouedraogo said "had the sole aim of bringing unacceptable discredit on the national armed forces".
Jeune Afrique has called the publishing suspension, which commenced on 25 September, "another attack on freedom of information; censorship from another age and another step towards helping to turn the region and Burkina in particular into a no news zone".
The junta in Burkina had earlier suspended French media RFIand France 24, and in April expelled two French journalists working for Le Monde and Liberation.
IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger, called the actions of the military junta: "a deliberate attempt to stave citizens and the world in general from the truth." The federation warns the junta against its systematic pattern of repression against the press since it came to power in September 2022, specifically targeting French media outlets.
The IFJ calls on the military junta to lift the suspension of the distribution of Jeune Afrique and to allow the media both local and foreign to perform their duties without any form of fear or intimidation.