Burkina Faso's intelligence officers took three journalists days after their union condemned press intimidation; they later appeared in videos wearing military uniforms, which CPJ says indicates forced conscription.
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After Association of Burkinabe Journalists (AJB) president Guezouma Sanogo condemned the "intimidation and kidnapping of journalists" at a 21 March 2025 meeting, CPJ reports that intelligence officers took Sanogo and AJB vice-president Boukari Ouoba to an undisclosed location on 24 March 2025, and that two National Security Council agents arrested BF1 TV journalist Luc Pagbelguem at his newsroom the same day over his report on the meeting. On 25 March the Ministry of Territorial Administration said the association was considered dissolved or non-existent since 2019, and on 26 March the Superior Council of Communication fined BF1 TV and suspended Pagbelguem for two weeks, calling his report "insulting, defamatory, and malicious." On 4 April 2025 CPJ reported a video showing all three in military uniform with armed men behind them, which it said indicates forced conscription; its requests for comment to the prime minister, government spokesperson and Defense Ministry went unanswered. RSF's July 2026 investigation reports Sanogo had earlier been forcibly conscripted for about four months after his March 2024 arrest.
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