(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has expressed regret over the National Audiovisual and Communications Board’s (Conseil national de la communication audiovisuelle, CNCA) decision to suspend Radio France International (RFI) broadcasts for 24 hours. “This decision does not bode well. RFI was merely doing its job by broadcasting important information. The CNCA decision only serves to emphasise the […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has expressed regret over the National Audiovisual and Communications Board’s (Conseil national de la communication audiovisuelle, CNCA) decision to suspend Radio France International (RFI) broadcasts for 24 hours.
“This decision does not bode well. RFI was merely doing its job by broadcasting important information. The CNCA decision only serves to emphasise the climate of fear and hostility that reigns in Côte d’Ivoire,” said RSF.
On 13 May 2004, the CNCA confirmed the French radio station’s suspension for 24 hours, effective 15 May at 6:00 a.m. (local time). The regulatory body explained that the station, in its handling of a United Nations (UN) report on the events of 25, 26 and 27 March, violated Article 3 of the 1991 Audiovisual Communications Law. The article stipulates that, “the public service must work towards the building of national unity, through the development of social communication”.
RFI has been suspended several times over the last few years. In 2002, the station remained off the FM airwaves for several weeks (see IFEX alerts of 26 September 2002).
In early May 2004, RFI broadcast the conclusions of a UN commission of inquiry report on the violence of 25, 26 and 27 March in Abidjan. The report implicates “the highest levels of state authority” and alleges the events were a “planned operation”. During the three days of demonstrations, 120 people were killed, according to UN sources.
