The suspension of RFI and France 24. This is what the Malian junta ordered on the night of Wednesday to Thursday because, according to it, of “false allegations” of 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”, the Malian Armed Forces, and “undertakes a procedure to suspend until further notice the broadcasting of RFI and France 24”, specifies a press release signed by Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, government spokesperson. The broadcasts of the two media were still continuing Thursday morning.
A suspension that has no precedent in Mali
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 Mali. The Malian government believes that “these false allegations” were reported in particular in a report of March 14 and 15, in which RFI gave the floor to alleged victims of abuses allegedly committed by the Malian army and the private group Russian Wagner.
Colonel Maiga’s press release “prohibits all national radio and television stations, as well as Malian news sites and newspapers, from rebroadcasting and/or publishing programs and press articles from RFI and France 24”. Colonel Maiga also believes that “the actions of RFI and France 24 resemble, in the recent past, the practices and the infamous role of radio Mille Collines”, which had encouraged the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.