CPJ condemns closure of private radio

The Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) on Tuesday condemned the closure of a private radio in Burkina Faso two days after it aired a communiqué from a coalition of opposition and human rights groups, calling for a rally to protest the lack of progress in investigating the murder of an independent journalist. In a letter on Tuesday to President Blaise Compaore, the CPJ said Horizon FM "appears to have been closed because it criticized your government for failing to adequately investigate the December 1998 murder of Norbert Zongo, editor of the newspaper 'L'Indépendant'". Zongo "had been aggressively investigating allegations that Your Excellency's brother François Compaoré took part in the January 1998 killing of his own chauffeur, David Ouedraogo," the CPJ recalled. On April 14, the state Supreme Council on Information (CSI) accused Horizon FM of violating a 1993 Information Code which, among other things, prescribes immediate closure of media houses charged with endangering national security or distributing false news.