Dakar – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has urged Djibouti Government to ensure that journalists reported its presidential elections without harassment or fear of expulsion.
This is contained in a statement by CPJ’s Deputy Executive Director, Robert Mahoney in Dakar on Thursday.
According to the statement, CPJ condemned Djiboutian authorities for detaining and expelling a team of BBC journalists from the country.
“An election can be free and fair only if journalists can cover it without being harassed, detained or expelled.
“The expulsion of a news crew after they had interviewed the foreign minister and an opposition figure is an act of censorship and casts doubt on the fairness and transparency of this poll,” it said.
The statement disclosed that BBC on April 4, reported that it had written to the government of Djibouti to ask why the authorities detained and expelled its crew, its Africa Security Correspondent, Tomi Oladipo.
It said that the team of journalists was in the country ahead of Friday’s presidential elections in the country, and was accredited to work there.
Police were said to have detained the group after they interviewed Djibouti’s foreign minister and an opposition candidate on April 1, then put them on a plane the following morning.
The statement said that Oladipo described their ordeal in an interview with the BBC World Service as unfair.
It said that Djiboutian authorities were yet to respond to a letter from BBC seeking explanation on the issue, neither did the Prime Minister’s office nor Foreign Minister’s office return CPJ’s phone calls on the matter.
President Ismail Guelleh is seeking a fourth term in this week’s elections.
The CPJ quoted African Union guidelines for free and fair elections which hold that there must be freedom of assembly, association, expression, and campaigning as well as access to the media on the part of all stakeholders.
The statement also recalled that Djiboutian police had in January, 2016, arrested two local journalists, Mohamed Waiss and Kadar Ibrahim, and held them without contact with the outside world for more than one week.
Khadar and Mohamed were released later that month.
Khadar received a two-month suspended prison sentence butd the journalists were not informed of any charges against them. (PANA/NAN)
