On 17 July Boukari Ouba, Vice President of the ABJ, and Luc Pagbelguem, a journalist with the independent TV station BF1, were also released. All four journalists have now been reunited with their families.

The IFJ and the FAJ had been campaigning for the release of these journalists since their abduction.

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger welcomed their release, while condemning the unlawful practices of the military junta aimed at silencing journalists and critics: "We have been consistent and persistent in our demand for the release of our colleagues, based on the conviction that journalists must never be arrested for doing their work. Freedom of expression, media freedom as well as the citizens' right to seek and receive information must be upheld. The very essence of life depends on people's ability to express their views on how they are being governed."

The IFJ and FAJ call on the military junta in Burkina Faso to uphold freedom of expression and media freedom, and to allow the media to perform its duties without intimidation or hindrance.

For more Information, please contact the IFJ - Africa Office

1st Floor, Maison de la Presse, 5 Rue X Corniche, Medina,

BP 64257, Dakar, Senegal

Tel: +221- 33 867 95 86/87; Fax: +221- 33 827 02