Recent remarks by a government minister constitute a form of intimidation that undermines media freedom and independence, says RSF.
(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has mixed feelings about the government’s decision not to go ahead with a threat to suspend the newspaper “Última Hora” as it seems to be no more than a stay of execution.
At a news conference on 20 April 2011, presidency minister Maria Adiatu Djalo Nandigna issued a “vibrant appeal to the media, especially the newspaper ‘Última Hora’, to bring their editorial policies into line with the higher interests” of Guinea-Bissau. She added that if the appeal was ignored, the government could “use its legal powers to cancel licences for good.”
Reporters Without Borders hopes the minister’s statement will not be acted on. It nonetheless constitutes a form of intimidation that undermines media freedom and independence.
