(3 minutes read)
· Beninese private radio station Soleil FM, owned by politician
and business mogul Sebastian Adjavon, has suspended its operations and
fired all 41 employees on the rolls in the wake of suspension of its
license
· In a similar case, a Burundian journalist has been arrested
after filing a report on the misuse of public funds in the country.
Beninese private radio station Soleil FM, owned by politician and
business mogul Sebastian Adjavon, has suspended its operations and
fired all 41 employees on the rolls. The staff union of the radio
station is not taking kindly to the suspension. The union spokesperson
said that its members had received the dismissal orders in the wake of
suspension of the activities of the radio station by the High
Authority for Audiovisual and Communication (HAAC).
The union deplored the dismissal by saying that the HAAC is the body
empowered by the constitution to protect press freedom. It now has
come to such a radical solution that does not take into account the
right to information of Beninese. In mid-December, the radio, one of
the few airing opposition views in Benin, was directed by the
president of the HAAC to suspend its operations until further orders.
The station unsuccessfully applied for a renewal of their license
prior to the suspension.
In a similar case, a Burundian journalist has been arrested after
filing a report on the misuse of public funds in the country. So far,
the authorities have not disclosed the charges against the journalist
and he was interrogated without a lawyer. A growing number of
journalists in Africa is complaining about the blatant attack on press
freedom, which is critical for running of the democratic institutions.
Arrests or detention of journalists were also reported from countries
like Uganda, Sudan and Malawi. But the silver lining is what happened
in Ethiopia, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed freed journalists who were
jailed by the previous dispensation for reposting against the
government.
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