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MFWA Condemns Attack on Danish Journalists and Censorship Policy by ISD, National Security

Vivian Affoah
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MFWA Condemns Attack on Danish Journalists and Censorship Policy by ISD, National Security

On April 10, 2016 security forces stationed at Saaman, a mining community in the Eastern Region of Ghana harassed three Danish journalists from Impact TV, a Denmark-based television station. The security forces also forcefully seized their filming equipment.

The three journalists, Anders Löfstedt, Kristoffer Eriksen and Sandra Haugaard were in the country to record a documentary on mining and environment in Ghana. The team had complied with a recently introduced obnoxious and media censoring directive by the Information Services Department (ISD) that require journalists working for foreign media to seek authorisation before conducting any filming activity in the country. The ISD’s authorisation to the Danish journalists had listed the filming of Saaman as part of what has been approved for their coverage.

According to MFWA’s sources, after the team finished filming and were returning, they were accosted by military personnel who had been stationed to offer security at Kibi Goldfields Limited, a local mining firm in the Saaman area. The security forces together with officials of the mining firm forcefully seized the equipment questioning why they had conducted filming within their mining concession.

The incident was subsequently reported to the police in Koforidua, capital of the Eastern Region. The equipment was also subsequently presented to the police and is yet to be released. According to sources the mining company is insisting on accessing content on the video recording equipment before deciding whether to release it or not.

The MFWA finds this development extremely worrying as it infringes on the rights of the journalists and limits the boundaries of media freedom in the country. The MFWA is equally worried about the implementation of the absurd policy by the ISD which seeks to impose direct censorship on journalists working for foreign media.

A recent authorisation issued to foreign journalists by the ISD in line with the policy, lists specific areas and fields that the journalists are allowed to cover and directs the crew to operate “strictly within the mandate given them.”

 The said authorisation also required that after the filming, the journalists should “ensure that copies of the video clips are made available to the Information Services Department for Conformity Reality Check before the videos are aired publicly.” This, the ISD said, was a directive by the National Security Council Secretariat.

The directive clearly imposes direct censorship of the media and clearly contravenes provisions in Article 162(2) of Ghana’s 1992 constitution, which states that: “Subject to this constitution and any other law not inconsistent with this constitution, there shall be no censorship in Ghana.”  The ISD’s policy is also at variance with Clause 4 of the same Article of the Constitution: “Editors and publishers of newspapers and other institutions of the mass media shall not be subject to control or interference by Government, nor shall they be penalized or harassed for their editorial opinions and views, or the content of their publications.”

The MFWA condemns the attack  on the Danish journalists and also calls on the ISD to withdraw the censorship policy.

Côte d’Ivoire: Government Bans Sale of Book Written by Political Opponent

Vivian Affoah
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Côte d’Ivoire’s Ministry of Interior on April 7, 2016 banned the sale of a testimonial book written by Charles Blé Goudé, ex-minister and former leader of the Jeunes Patriotes, a youth movement supportive of the former President Laurent Gbagbo.

Both Blé Goudé and President Gbagbo are currently being tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity.

The 190 page book entitled De l’Enfer, Je Reviendrai (From Hell I will Return), was authored by Blé Goudé whilst in detention. It outlines the five months of post-election crisis (December 2010- April 2011) that engulfed Côte d’Ivoire following the refusal of former President Laurent Gbagbo to recognize the victory of his opponent Alassane Ouattara.

Lawyer of Ble Goude, Simplice Seri Zokou announced the ban in a statement on the same day. “The book which was published on March 24, 2016 in Côte d’Ivoire after several challenges has just been banned” the statement said.

According to the said statement, the Groupes Librairie de France et Prosuma (FNAC), major distributors of the book in the country has also received a verbal notice from the Minister of Interior that the book has been banned on all Ivoirian territory.

“Sale (of the book) has been prohibited. The luckier ones were able to obtain the first stock”, confirmed an employee of the bookshop, librairie de la France located at Plateau, Abidjan’s business district.

Also the lawyers for the publishers of the book, Yves Derai and Seri Zokou have expressed shock at the decision and described it as a “blatant attack on freedom of expression.”
At the time of writing this alert, the Ministry had not given any reason for the ban. The MFWA finds the decision arbitrary and a violation of the writer’s right to freedom of expression and opinion. We therefore call on the Ivoirian authorities to lift the ban.

The Gambia: More Pressure on President Jammeh to Release Detained Journalist

Vivian Affoah
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The Gambia: More Pressure on President Jammeh to Release Detained Journalist

More pressure is mounting on Gambian President Yahya Jammeh to release detained journalist Alhagie Abdoulie Ceesay.

On March 31, 2016, two US senate members wrote to President Jammeh to release Ceesay who has been in detention since July 17, 2015.

The letter from Richard Joseph Durbin, a senior United States Senator for Illinois and Patrick Joseph Leahy, Senator for Vermont, comes a month after MFWA and 36 other freedom of expression organisations from across Africa and the globe petitioned the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights and the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Opinion to urge President Jammeh to release Ceesay.

The letter from Senators Durbin and Leahy which also mentioned the case of disappeared journalist Ebrima Manneh among others, said “in recent years we and others in the United States have written to you urging the release or accounting of Gambian journalist Ebrima Manneh, who was detained by National Intelligence Agency personnel in 2006 and not heard from again. While a full accounting of Mr. Manneh’s deeply troubling disappearance (and we fear death) has yet to be provided, we appreciate that you allowed a visit in 2014 by the United Nations Special Rapporteur. In a similar vein, we ask your help with the release of radio journalist Alagie Abdoulie Ceesay who has been held in Mile 2 Prison under questionable charges and harsh conditions since his arrest nearly a year ago.”

The Senators also noted that Ceesay’s arrest and detention is an indication of the poor press freedom and freedom of expression conditions in The Gambia. “Unfortunately, given the history of government harassment of Teranga FM, the charges and jailing of Mr. Ceesay seem more related to a troubling lack of press freedom in The Gambia and not based on any credible evidence of criminal wrong doing,” the Senators said.

Since Ceesay was detained over nine months ago, many organisations have on several occasions appealed to President Jammeh to ensure his release but nothing has been done about it.

On August 27 2015, the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions wrote to President Jammeh to explain the circumstances surrounding Ceesay’s detention. The government failed to respond to the Working Group even though the country had 60 days to respond (August 27-October 27, 2015).

At the 74th session of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on November 30-December 2015, it expressed concern about the sedition charge against Ceesay. “The crime of ‘sedition’ which is used to deny the enjoyment of freedoms and the Government should reconsider its interpretation of that crime.”

The Working Group noted that Ceesay’s detention is arbitrary.

“The Working Group requests the Government of The Gambia to take the necessary steps to remedy the situation of Mr. Ceesay. Taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the Working Group is of view that adequate remedy would be to immediately release Mr. Ceesay, to accord him an enforceable right to compensation and to ensure that freedom of opinion and expression is better protected,” the Working Group said.

The Gambia under President Jammeh has witnessed over 21 years of crack down on freedom of expression. Several journalists, human rights defenders and ordinary citizens have suffered arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, intimidation etc. Many of these people have been forced to flee the country. In 2015, more than 17 persons reported to have been arbitrarily arrested and detained, threatened or physically attacked. There were also attempts to censor media organisations who are already practising strict self-censorship.

The MFWA is once again calling on President Jammeh to respect the several protocols and international treaties The Gambia has ratified. We are calling on ECOWAS, and the African Commission to urge President Yahya Jammeh to ensure the release of Ceesay and also to improve on the press freedom, freedom of expression and human rights conditions in the country.

A Dossier on Free Expression for Benin’s New Leader

Vivian Affoah
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A Dossier on Free Expression for Benin’s New Leader

On March 20, 2016 the people of Benin elected businessman, Mr. Patrice Talon, as the country’s new leader after second round of voting. Characteristic of the country’s democratic track record in elections, outgoing President, Yayi Boni, did not seek a third term and when his ruling party lost the election, its candidate, Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou, graciously conceded defeat.

As an indication of readiness for further progress, President Talon, even before he was sworn in, indicated that one of his priorities will be constitutional reforms that will bring more political and economic freedoms to the people. So this may be the right time, to present to him one of the critical areas that he has to focus his attention on – enhancing and protecting the right of citizens to freely express themselves. The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) therefore presents highlights of incidents of free expression violations in the country over the past year which deserves President Talon’s attention.

From January 2015 to March 2016, Benin has witnessed 11 reported cases of freedom of expression violations. These include violations of freedom of assembly rights, attacks on journalists and attempts on the lives of individuals for expressing their opinions.

Prior to the presidential election on March 6, 2016, four (4) incidents of violations occurred. The Minister of Foreign Affairs asked the police to drive away a crew of journalists who requested an interview from him.  Within the same period, a cleric was threatened for endorsing the then presidential candidate, Patrice Talon. Two opposition rallies were also banned.

In 2015, the country witnessed seven (7) incidents of violations. Among these violations was the suspension of a newspaper by the regulatory body Haute Autorité de l’Audiovisuel et de la Communication (HAAC). The newspaper’s suspension followed an article it had published criticising the then President, Yayi Boni, and a member of parliament which was deemed “abusive” by HAAC. In another incident, a foreman of a construction company physically attacked a television crew in their line of duty.

In two other cases, police attacked and fired tear gas on demonstrators. Later the demonstrators went to a television station to share their story and were arrested by the police. Prior to that incident, a female military officer had intimidated and threatened a newspaper staff over an article published about her.

In another incident, three journalists Ozias Sounouvou, Prévert Noutèhou and Renaud Acakpo, of state-owned Office de Radiodiffusion et Télévision du Bénin (ORTB) were banned from presenting news on set after Sounouvou criticised President Yayi for participating in a press freedom rally in France while he had failed to  promote freedom of expression in Benin. Prior to the ban, Sounouvou had received several threatening phone-calls from unknown persons.

Unfortunately majority of these violations were carried out by state actors with police and state officials being the main perpetrators.

The MFWA therefore requests President Talon to prioritise improving the freedom of expression situation in the country to help consolidate Benin’s democratic gains by passing access to information law, decriminalising press offences and demonstrating zero tolerance for acts of impunity against journalists.

The MFWA takes this opportunity to congratulate President Talon on his victory and to assure him and the people of Benin of the organisation’s commitment to support media development and professionalism in the country through our partner, l’Observatoire de la Déontologie et de l’Ethique dans les Médias (ODEM), to help improve responsible journalism in the country.

MFWA, Stakeholders to Validate 2016 Language Monitoring Instrument

Vivian Affoah
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MFWA, Stakeholders to Validate 2016 Language Monitoring Instrument

The Media Foundation for West Africa will on Tuesday April 12, 2016 meet stakeholders in Accra to validate the instrument developed for the tracking and reporting of abusive campaign language on radio ahead of the 2016 elections in Ghana.

The meeting will bring together representatives from political parties, the media, National Peace Council, National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), the Electoral Commission of Ghana, National Media Commission, Ghana Journalists Association and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).

The validation meeting is for stakeholders to familiarise themselves with the instrument and make inputs and recommendations where necessary. Stakeholders will also validate an Elections Communications Guide, developed to guide political actors and media in using decent campaign language on radio. The meeting is scheduled to take place at the Paloma Hotel in Accra at 10am prompt.

About 70 radio stations are expected to be monitored for hate speech during the project with reports issued every two weeks.  Monitors have already been recruited in all ten regions of Ghana and monitoring starts in April.

West Africa: 142 Free Expression Violations Recorded in 2015

Vivian Affoah
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A total of 142 incidents of free expression violations were recorded across West Africa in 2015. Almost 90 percent of the incidents were violations against journalists and media organisations, a development that further highlights the important issue of safety of journalists in the region.    The press freedom violations were predominantly in the form of arrests, attacks, threats, suspensions and censorships among others.

The Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah made the figures known when made a presentation on safety of journalists in West Africa at the Legon Centre for International Affairs (LECIAD).

Mr. Braimah was speaking at a two-day training workshop for 18 journalists selected from seven West Africa countries on March 30 and 31. The training workshop which was organized jointly by the School of Information and Communication Studies and LECIAD was focused in training journalists in conflict reporting and peace journalism.

“The situation in many countries either remained the same or got worse than the previous year. The violations recorded in 2015 represent a 40% increase over the previous year, 2014,” he explained. “This is the trend and this is why the issue of safety of journalists remains very important”.

The worst perpetrators of violations were security officials, state agencies and organized groups. The countries with the highest incidents of violations were Nigeria (34); Niger (16); and The Gambia (15). Both Guinea and Senegal recorded 11 incidents. Ghana, Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire each recorded 10 violations. The rest were Benin (7), Sierra Leone (6), Togo (4), Mali (3), Guinea-Bissau (2), Liberia (2) and Mauritania (1). No incident was recorded in Cape Verde.

The figures represented only the incidents that were reported and therefore the situation in the region could be worse than presented.

Mr. Braimah urged the journalists to be interested in supporting advocacy around journalists’ safety. He also challenged them to advocate for their media organisations in the region to develop and implement safety policies for their workers.

At a recent meeting of the leading press freedom organisations in West Africa, the issue of safety of journalists was highlighted as a major concern affected press freedom and media development in the region. The organisations from the 16 countries of West Africa, issued a joint communiqué urging governments in the region to prioritise safety of journalists in all countries.

Attempts to Control Internet Use in West Africa Must be Resisted – MFWA

Vivian Affoah
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Attempts to Control Internet Use in West Africa Must be Resisted – MFWA

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is urging stakeholders in all 16 West African countries to resist all attempts by governments and regulators to limit freedom of expression online or control internet use.

The MFWA’s call follows findings from an internet rights monitoring exercise conducted by the Foundation from October – December 2015.

The findings show that in the last three months of 2015, Ghana and Nigeria respectively passed and introduced bills that have potential for curtailing free expression online.

The report cites the Ghana National Media Commission (Content Standards) Regulations, 2015 (LI 2224) passed in December 2015, and the Nigerian Bill “to Act to Prohibit Frivolous Petitions and Other Matters Connected Therewith” which passed the second reading in the upper Chambers of Nigeria’s Senate, as attempts to control internet use in the two countries. The report indicates that LI2224 and the Frivolous Petition Bill could have widespread implications for online media organisations, intermediaries and users which could result in self-censorship out of fear of penalties and also the bureaucracy in getting content authorisation and affidavit respectively.

The report ends by calling on governments in the region to be guided by the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms which promotes a set of human rights principles to guide internet policy formulation. The report also encourages civil society organisations in the region to be proactive in engaging governments to ensure that they make inputs into draft bills and policies before they are passed. Netizens are also encouraged to support internet rights and freedoms advocacy and resist any attempt to control the internet or restrict online expression.

The monitoring and reporting of internet rights and freedoms issues in West Africa forms part of MFWA’s internet freedom project aimed at advocating for internet rights and freedoms across the region. The internet freedom project by the MFWA is supported by the UK-based Global Partners’ Digital.

Please click here for the full report:  Internet Rights Monitoring in West Africa – Oct to Dec 2015 (pdf)

Ghana: Regulator Shuts Down Nine TV Stations for Non-Compliance

Vivian Affoah
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Ghana: Regulator Shuts Down Nine TV Stations for Non-Compliance

Ghana’s communications regulatory body, the National Communication Authority (NCA), has taken off air nine television channels for operating without authorisation.

The affected channels include Obinim TV (OB TV), Kessben TV, ECN, Care TV, Amansan TV, Elijah TV, Zoe TV, BTA and Clive TV most of which are faith-based channels.

According to a statement issued by the NCA, on March 30, 2016, the affected stations breached the guidelines under Section 2(4) of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008, Act 775 which requires operators to obtain frequency authorisation from the Authority before broadcasting. The affected stations also used a third party satellite infrastructure provider to broadcast their programmes via satellite without authorisation.

The channels were identified following a periodic monitoring exercise by the NCA in 2015 to ensure compliance with the broadcasting authorisation requirements in the country.  Upon identification, the NCA notified the third party provider and the satellite company concerned and gave them a grace period to ensure compliance, but they defaulted.

Meanwhile the Ghana Independent Broadcasters’ Association (GIBA) has supported the NCA’s action explaining that the association does not condone piracy and disregard for regulations. The president of GIBA, Kwasi Agyeman, urged the NCA to “ensure that everyone adheres to the regulations.”

Local Governance in Ghana: Practitioners Call for Improved Capacity for Effective Citizens’ Engagement Through Media

Vivian Affoah
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Local Governance in Ghana: Practitioners Call for Improved Capacity for Effective Citizens’ Engagement Through Media

Some leaders and officials of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in Northern Ghana have underscored the importance of the media, especially local-based radio stations, in effectively engaging the citizens on local development and local governance processes.

They however expressed worry about the inadequate capacity among local assembly officials to maximise the potential of local-based radio stations as effective platforms for information disclosure and citizens’ engagement.

This came to light at a stakeholder evaluation meeting on “Promoting information disclosure and citizens’ participation in local governance processes” organised by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in Tamale.

The meeting brought together chief executive officers, public relations officers, information officers and district co-ordinating directors, radio stations and some community based organisations to reflect on ways local assemblies can improve engagement with citizens in the local governance processes.

It formed part of activities under the MFWA’s project “Promoting Participatory and Accountable local governance through professional media and community dialogues in Northern Ghana” implemented with funding support from the Canadian High Commission in Ghana.  The project built the capacity of three radio stations in three districts in the northern region of Ghana to create radio platforms that facilitated regular engagements between local assembly authorities and citizens.

About 40 programmes termed “Time with the Assembly” were produced on the selected radio stations. The “State of the District” radio broadcasts also saw District Chief Executives featuring on air to discuss how the district fared over a period, the gaps and way forward while responding to questions from citizens via phone-ins and Whatsapp. Community forums organised, augmented the radio programmes as local assembly officials interacted face-to-face with community members on development concerns.

Chief Executives and Officials of Metropolitan Municipal and District Assemblies, journalists and representatives of CBOs at the stakeholders forum.

Participants at the stakeholder evaluation meeting noted that the regular platforms created on local-based radio stations helped to educate the public on the work of the local assembly, the budget cycle, sources of funding and expenditure, medium term development plan among others.

“The local governance radio programmes help to gauge community concerns and consider the necessary options for addressing them; People now appreciate us better”  – PRO for Savelugu-Nanton Municipal Assembly, Mustapha Ahmed.

“The concept is very good. It helped to clear misconception about the Assembly; Our people now have a better understanding of Assembly’s budget cycle; issues of project roll over and financial management within the Assembly; DCE himself participated in the state of the district radio broadcast and that was good for the people” – District Coordinating Director of West Mamprusi, Andrews Mensah

The MFWA’s Programme Manager for Media, Democracy and Development, Abigail Larbi Odei said the objective of this intervention is that citizens have increased platforms to frequently hear from local assembly officials on what is happening in their localities, ask questions about local developments and get the assembly officials to respond and be more accountable to the people of their stewardship.

She added that “it is refreshing that we are beginning to see the usefulness of these governance dialogue platforms as evidenced in the feedback from radio stations, local assemblies and stakeholders at this evaluation meeting and hope that such platforms would be sustained.

Press Freedom Organisations in 14 West African Countries Partner MFWA

Vivian Affoah
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Press Freedom Organisations in 14 West African Countries Partner MFWA

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has signed partnership agreements with the leading press freedom and freedom of expression organisations in 14 West African countries.

The partnership arrangement forms part of the MFWA’s efforts to build synergies and promote joint efforts to advocate for improved press freedom, freedom of expression, access to information rights and professional journalism in the West Africa.

“As a regional organisation, we are delighted about this partnership with the leading civil society organisations that are doing great work on press freedom, freedom of expression, professional journalism and right to information at the national level in the respective countries in the region,” said Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of the MFWA. “Together we can strengthen each other’s capacity, amplify our advocacy voice and deliver more effective region-wide advocacy for improving the lives of people.”

The national partners with whom the MFWA will be working are International Press Centre (IPC) of Nigeria, the Gambia Press Union (GPU), Centre for Media Studies and Peace Building (CEMESP) of Liberia and the Media Reform Co-ordinating Group – Sierra Leone (MRCG-SL).

The partners in the Francophone and Lusophone countries  are l’Observatoire pour la Liberté de la Presse, de l’Ethique et de la Déontologie (OLPED), Cote d’Ivoire; Centre National de Presse-Norbert Zongo (CNP-NZ), Burkina Faso; la Convention Des Jeunes Reporters du Sénégal (CJRS) Senegal; Institut des Médias pour la Démocratie et les Droits de l’Homme (IM2DH), Togo ; Sindacto De Jornalistas  e Tecnicos De Comunicacao Social Guinée Bissau, (SINJOTECS).

The rest are l’Observatoire de la Déontologie et de l’Ethique dans les Medias (ODEM), Benin; Maison de la Presse (MP), Mali ; Regroupement de la Presse Mauritanienne (RPM), Mauritania; L’observatoire Nigérien Indépendant des Médias pour l’Éthique et la Déontologie, (ONIMED) of Niger and the Réseau Guinéen des Journalistes contre la Corruption et pour la Promotion de la Bonne Gouvernance, (REGUIJOC), Guinea.

Prioritise Safety of Journalists, Access to Information – Press Freedom Groups in West Africa Urge Gov’ts

Vivian Affoah
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Prioritise Safety of Journalists, Access to Information – Press Freedom Groups in West Africa Urge Gov’ts

Leading media development and free expression organisations in West Africa have called on governments in the region to prioritise safety of journalists and access to information. At the just ended West Africa Conference on Media and Participatory Governance, participants deplored the continuous attacks on journalists and the impunity for which such crimes are committed. Participants also noted with concern that many more countries in the region are yet to pass Right to Information laws to guarantee access to information for citizens.

This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the Conference which was organized by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in Accra on March 15, 2016.

The Conference brought together representatives from freedom of expression and media development organisations from 15 countries in West Africa, ECOWAS, UN agencies, diplomats and other civil society stakeholders with the aim of identifying key challenges in the areas of freedom of expression and the role of the media to promote good governance, regional integration and peace in West Africa.

The Conference was carried out with support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), fesmedia Africa, the Embassy of the United States of America in Ghana and Global Partners Digital.

Below is the full communiqué that was issued by the participants at the Conference.

 

Communiqué

We, the representatives of leading press freedom and media development organisations from West Africa who participated in the West Africa Conference on Media and Participatory Governance held in Accra on March 15, 2016, after deliberating on press freedom, professional journalism and good governance issues in West Africa, adopt the following resolutions:

  • We call on all governments in West Africa to create and maintain, in law and in practice, a safe and enabling environment for journalists, media professionals and associated personnel to perform their work professionally without attacks and undue interference.
  • We urge governments in the region to take steps to tackle impunity for crimes against journalists by prosecuting and punishing perpetrators of such crimes.
  • We urge the ECOWAS to take necessary steps to ensure compliance of member states with the human rights decisions of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice.
  • We call on journalists unions, all media owners, managers, editors, journalists and media development organisations in the region to take steps to improve professional standards among the media.
  • We call on the ECOWAS to prioritise the adoption and national level implementation of the pending regional frameworks on Access to Information and Freedom of Expression in line with the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.
  • We urge governments of countries that are yet to adopt Right to Information (RTI) Law to prioritise processes for the passage of such laws to guarantee access to information for all citizens.
  • We commend the West African governments that have guaranteed citizens’ access to information through the adoption of RTI Law; and urge these governments to adopt appropriate mechanisms for the effective implementation of their respective RTI laws.
  • We acknowledge that the right to freedom of expression is as important online as offline and we urge all governments to ensure that the rights of citizens are respected and protected online in accordance with the United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution which reaffirms that “the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online”.

Adopted in Accra on March 15, 2016.

Mali: Football Fanatics Attack Journalist’s Home, Injure his Wife

Vivian Affoah
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A mob claiming to be football fans in Bamako has attacked the home of a radio presenter in Mali, injuring his wife and a neighbour.

The attack occurred in the night of March 9, 2016.

According to the MFWA’s correspondent in Mali, the attackers’ main target was journalist Bakary Cissé who is the Head of Sports at Radio Klédu in Bamako. They accuse Cissé of making negative comments about the recent extraordinary congress of the Mali Football Federation. Realising Cissé was not at home, the mob decided to beat up his wife. A neighbor who intervened was also beaten by the mob. In the process, Mrs Cisse sustained scratches on her wrists while and her neighbour got a cut above his  eye.

The media in Mali have strongly condemned the attack and called on the police to arrest the persons responsible for the attack. . The MFWA condemns this attack and joins the Malian media in calling for the perpetrators to be brought to book.

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