Three
journalists at Benin’s state broadcaster, Office de Radiodiffusion et
Television du Benin (ORTB), have been banned from presenting on the
television station’s 8pm broadcast.
Ozias
Sounouvou, Prévert Noutèhou and Renaud Acakpo told MFWA’s correspondent
in Benin that there was an “order from above that their names should be
removed from the list of news presenters for the 20 hours news
broadcast”. The order was posted in the editorial room February 1, 2015.
The
ban of the three journalists follows a statement made by another
presenter, Ozias Sounouvou, during the 11:30pm edition on January 12.
While presenting the news, Sounouvou
called out the President of Benin, Yayi Boni, for participating in a
press freedom march in Paris following the Charlie Hebdo attacks while
in his own country, people cannot exercise the right to freedom of
expression.
