Alarming resurgence of journalist arrests in Burkina Faso

Ousséni Ilboudo, managing editor of the newspaper L’Observateur Paalga, and Michel Wendpouiré Nana, deputy editor-in-chief of the newspaper Le Pays, were arrested on the morning of 13 October in their respective newsrooms in Ouagadougou, the country’s capital. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns this alarming upsurge in journalist arrests and calls for the immediate release of Ousséni Ilboudo, Michel Wendpouiré Nana and all their arbitrarily detained fellow journalists.

UPDATE 15/10/2025: According to RSF information gathered, Michel Wendpouiré Nana returned home the night of 14 October. The managing director of L’Observateur Paalga, Ousséni Ilboudo, and the editorial director of Aujourd’hui au Faso, Zowenmanogo Dieudonné Zoungrana, were also released on 15 October, according to their respective media. Dieudonné Zoungrana had been arrested the previous day at his home by four alleged members of the National Intelligence Agency (ANR). He was one of a pool of journalists selected to interview Ibrahim Traoré for a programme broadcast by Radiodiffusion-Télévision du Burkina (RTB) on 28 September. The transcript of the interview was posted on social media by a Burkinbè activist before it was even broadcast by the public media. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is relieved by these releases and calls on the Burkina Faso authorities to release all four journalists who are currently detained or held for questioning, including Serge Oulon.