Burkina Faso: polemicist Kémi Séba expelled to Benin
The polemicist Kémi Séba, June 26, 2020 in Paris.
AFP - STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
Polemicist Kemi Seba was expelled from Burkina Faso on Saturday, October 30.
Present in the country for a demonstration whose slogan was "against the double game of France in its military operations in the Sahel and Burkina Faso and against the French military presence in Burkina Faso and the Sahel", the activist n did not have time to reach the town of Bobo Dioulasso, where the demonstration was to be held.
He was put on a plane and brought back to Benin.
Advertising
Read more
With our correspondent in Ouagadougou,
Yaya Boudani
It was at the call of the Coalition of Patriots of Burkina Faso (COPA-BF) that the demonstration against the presence of French soldiers in Burkina Faso
in the Sahel
was to be held. The organizers did not obtain authorization from the town hall of Bobo Dioulasso. "
We have submitted two requests to the town hall which refused to authorize the demonstration
", explains Salif Nikiema, a founding member of the organization.
Reason mentioned by the secretary general of the town hall: “
The security situation marked by terrorist attacks and threats of disturbing public order.
"
Kemi Saba
, who had been invited to take part in this event, was intepellé by security forces while on his way to Bobo Dioulasso. After a few hours of detention, he was expelled from Burkina Faso.
"
He was sent back to Benin because he had hosted a press conference and posted messages on social networks to call on the populations to come out for a prohibited demonstration
," according to a source within the Ministry of Security.
This ministry official stresses that some member associations of COPA-BF were not legally recognized and that the context could serve as an opportunity for certain groups to carry out “
subversive activities
”.
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Burkina Faso
Benign