Burkina Faso / Africa

This morning, police in Burkina Faso summoned four leaders of a march over the weekend that called for a renewed investigation into the unsolved 1998 assassination of investigative journalist Norbert Zongo. Among those questioned was Jean-Claude Meda, the president of the Association of Journalists of Burkina Faso, who told me that he received a call…

Ten years ago on Saturday, the bullet-ridden bodies of investigative journalist Norbert Zongo and three friends were found in Zongo’s burned-out car outside the capital of Burkina Faso.

Attacks & developments throughout the region

New York, April 26, 2007—Authorities in Burkina Faso must fully investigate a death threat against outspoken journalist and free speech activist Karim Sama, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Sama received an anonymous e-mail last week warning that he “will be gunned down” over commentary that is critical of the government. Sama, host of…

Attacks & developments throughout the region

New York, January 23, 2007—A court in the capital, Ouagadougou, convicted two top journalists with the private bi-monthly L’Evénement on criminal defamation charges on Monday in connection with critical stories about the unsolved 1998 murder of editor Norbert Zongo. Director Germain Nama and editor Ahmed Newton Barry were found guilty of defaming Francois Compaoré, brother…

New York, January 19, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in Burkina Faso to drop criminal defamation charges against two private newspaper journalists over stories on the unsolved 1998 murder of editor Norbert Zongo. The articles discussed a report by the Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) that raised questions about…

By Mathew HansenHundreds of journalists have been killed over 15 years, many on the orders of government officials. Few cases are ever solved. In the Fall/Winter 2006 edition of Dangerous Assignments

By Tidiane Sy