TV5 journalists violently detained and released

They had come to Mali to cover the first round of the presidential election of 29th July. TV5 French TV journalists were violently arrested on Sunday when they arrived in Bamako and then released, according to one of them told Agence France Presse.

"We arrived (in Bamako) with our visas and our accreditation. We are a team of five (journalists). We have pbaded border controls without worry. Once outside, in front of the airport, when we take our shuttle, a plainclothes agent comes to question three members of the team, "said Ousmane Ndiaye, editor-in-chief at TV5. He states that the three arrested are the director, the editor of the team and himself.

"The agent (plainclothes) asked us manu militari to follow him. He snatched our pbadports at the same time. Once inside the police, he abused the director to tear his phone. He (the director) still wears the marks on his arm. Airport officials said they were "state security" and the journalists were "suspects". The five journalists were then interrogated and released two hours later, according to the same source.

"A bad surprise (…), incomprehensible"

Solicited by AFP, the direction of the airport of Bamako n ' did not want "for the moment" to comment on the case. A source of Malian security, questioned about this incident, affirmed "that it was a control", under cover of the anonymity.

In Paris, the director general of TV5 Monde Yves Bigot, joined by AFP, said the case was "a bad surprise (…), incomprehensible." "TV5 Monde is used to working in Africa and Mali without any problem, it is known in Mali, where it is watched and respected," he added. "This is an absolutely unacceptable treatment on the part, I am told, of the security of the state," said Yves Bigot, adding that the eventual follow-up would be decided Monday.

A total of 24 candidates will be present in the first round of the Malian presidential, including President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta. Mali ranks 115th out of 180 countries in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index established by Reporters Without Borders.