Paris. France on Thursday “very strongly” condemned the suspension of broadcasting by France 24 and RFI media outlets in Niger, a week after a coup d’état overthrew president-elect Mohamed Bazoum.
“France reaffirms its constant and determined commitment to press freedom, freedom of expression and the protection of journalists,” the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The France Médias Monde group denounced on Thursday the interruption of the broadcasting of the programs of these two chains in the African country, “a decision taken outside any conventional or legal framework,” according to a statement.
The two outlets were inaccessible on Thursday afternoon, AFP journalists in Niamey found.
The signals of the RFI FM radio station and the France 24 channel were interrupted “on instructions from the new military authorities,” a senior Nigerien official told AFP.
