|
|
Burkina Faso: Arson Attack On Radio Host's Car Marks Escalation in Intimidation Campaign
 |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
Reporters sans Frontières (Paris)
PRESS RELEASE
2 October 2007
Posted to the web 2 October 2007
Reporters Without Borders today condemned a campaign of death threats against singer and radio host Karim Sama, which took a disturbing new turn with an arson attack on his car on 28 September in Ouagadougou. Also known as "SAM'S K Le Jah," Sama hosts a successful programme on privately-owned Ouaga FM in which he often criticises President Blaise Compaoré. The programme is popular outside of Boukina Faso as well.
"This campaign to intimidate a committed performer was already outrageous, but it has become much more alarming now that the fanatics threatening him have moved from words to actions," the press freedom organisation said. "It is time the authorities took this seriously, and identified and punished those responsible for this disgraceful behaviour."
Sama was presenting his weekly "Roots Rock Reggae" programme on the evening of 28 September when the radio station's guard came and told him his car was on fire. Sama rushed to the station's car park and found the rear seat of the car already ablaze and the flames beginning to spread to the rest of the vehicle.
Sama has been receiving threatening email messages since April. The first one, on 18 April, told him to stop saying "nonsense on radio Ouaga FM" and warned him he would die soon. Likening President Compaoré to a "divine blessing," it called on Sama to stop criticising the president's "development initiatives" in his programmes.
Sama immediately reported the threatening email to the police in the hope that they could establish who sent it. But no action was taken. Although it said he should "not mention this message on the air on Ouaga FM," Sama told the press and received the support of journalists' organisations. The threatening messages continued until the arson attack, about which he also filed a complaint.
|
Reporters Without Borders defends imprisoned journalists and press freedom throughout the world. It has nine national sections (Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland). It has representatives in Bangkok, London, New York, Tokyo and Washington. And it has more than 120 correspondents worldwide.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2007 Reporters sans Frontières. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
