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Journalists from magazine "Reporter" and newspaper "l'Événement" receive anonymous death threats for criticising government officials

(MFWA/IFEX) - Several journalists of the "Reporter", an independent monthly magazine, as well as journalist Newton Ahmed Barry of privately-owned weekly newspaper "l'Événement" have received death threats via e-mail for allegedly criticising three top government officials.

In a February 2009 edition of the "Reporter", the magazine published a letter from an anonymous source that identified himself as "The Boss" in which he stated that he would eliminate the newspaper's journalists one after the other.

Media Foundation for West Africa's (MFWA) correspondent said the threats followed a publication in the January 2009 edition of the magazine which claimed that Filppe Sawadogo, the Minister of Culture, Boureima Badini, the Representative of the Facilitator in the Ivorian crisis and Paramanga Ernest Yonly, the former Burkinabe Prime Minister have been cited for corruption in a recent report.

The anonymous writer warned the newspaper and Barry to stop publishing damaging stories about the officials, or they would suffer the fate of Norbert Zongo, an investigative journalist who was assassinated in 1989, and Sam K LE Jah, a popular presenter of Ouaga FM, a local private radio station, whose car was burnt for his alleged criticism of the government.