Alerts | Censorship and regulation

Regulatory body suspends newspaper for three months over critical article

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On March 4, the media regulatory body, Haute Autorité de l’Audiovisuel et de la Communication (HAAC), suspended the privately owned media outlet La Dépêche for three months. The suspension came after the media outlet published a story on February 28 about the assassination of an army general, which the HAAC deemed lacking in ethics and media professionalism. The media outlet claimed to have evidence supporting its story, but the HAAC refuted this claim. The HAAC also pointed out other serious shortcomings in the publication, including incitement to tribal hatred, a call for ethnic confrontation within the army, incitement to popular revolt, and unfounded insinuations. On March 26, the journalist was summoned by the Research and Investigation Brigade of the General Directorate of the National Police (BRI-DGPN) for a “judicial or administrative investigation” concerning him.

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