Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Le pays Tchad
Published on 2024-03-08 17:33:03
The journalist Idriss Yaya from Radio Communautaire de Mongo was shot dead, as well as his wife and their young son, on March 1, 2024 in Djondjol in southern Chad. Reporters Without Borders (Rsf) condemns this heinous crime that must not go unpunished. The organization calls on the authorities to bring those responsible to justice and to protect journalists.
According to the Rsf statement, nine people entered the home of Idriss Yaya on March 1, located in the village of Djondjol, 12 kilometers from the city of Mangalmé in southern Chad. One of them shot the journalist, his wife, and their four-year-old son.
Due to his coverage of regional intercommunal conflicts that have already claimed hundreds of lives, the journalist had been previously threatened and assaulted. According to information from the journalist defense organization, Idriss Yaya was murdered after his name was mentioned on the Facebook page of the newspaper Le Référent, as the source of information on the illegal acquisition of weapons by members of the ethnic community of the “Moubis.”
The governor of the Guéra province stated, according to information gathered by Rsf, that the initial results of the police investigation reveal that the nine individuals premeditated the murder. Arrested on March 2, they are still being questioned in order for the police to determine all responsibilities in this tragedy. “The murder of journalist Idriss Yaya and his family cruelly highlights the terrible dangers faced by media professionals in the southern regions, as well as the central regions of Chad, where frequent intercommunal conflicts prevail. Journalists in these regions are regularly targeted by physical attacks. This time, the worst has happened. It is crucial that the investigation quickly leads to the identification of responsibilities and the judgment of all those responsible for this heinous crime. We also call on the authorities to take strong measures to protect journalists working in these difficult areas,” said Sadibou Marong, Director of the Sub-Saharan Africa office of Rsf.
As in the rest of the Sahel, where insecurity is growing, journalists in Chad are exposed to many security risks. Recently, at the end of February 2024, the general coordinator of the news site Alwihdainfo, Malick Mahamat Tidjani, was run over by motorcyclists and then beaten in N’Djamena, the capital. Chad ranks 109th out of 180 countries in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index established by Reporters Without Borders.
Read the original article(French) on Le Pays Tchad
