Mali’s military government has ordered French broadcasters RFI and France 24 off the air, complaining they had falsely accused the army of committing abuses, it said in a statement issued on Thursday.
The government in Bamako “categorically rejects these false accusations against the courageous FAMA (Malian Armed Forces),” spokesperson Col. Abdoulaye Maiga said.
The military is “initiating proceedings … to suspend broadcasts by RFI and France 24 … until further notice,” he said in the statement dated Wednesday.
The European Union lashed out at the ban, calling it “unacceptable” and said the accusations on which it was based were “unfounded.”
“By attacking the freedom of the press, the freedom to inform and to be informed, the junta is continuing and confirming that it is pushing ahead regardless,” foreign policy spokesperson Nabila Massrali said in Brussels.
RFI and France 24 were still broadcasting on Thursday morning in the conflict-ridden Sahel nation.
There is no recent precedent in Mali for major foreign news media to be taken off the air.
RFI (Radio France Internationale) and France 24 cover African news extensively and have a strong following in the former French colony.
France Medias Monde, the parent company of RFI and France 24, said on Thursday that it “deplores” the decision to take its broadcasters off the air. -Agencies
