Reporters happening to be useful to police forces must be less brutalized!

The meeting between Madagascar’s young reporters’ association (locally AJJM) and colonel Richard Ravalomanana, the Emmo Reg’s commander, turned into a conference led by an eminent professor teaching a tamed audience, in respect for the recovered collaboration. The meeting – press conference was rather friendly since it has been precisely centered on collaboration. The police forces’ chief who dictates the law in Antananarivo, made no mystery of his will to collaborate with the press, or to use it.  “We need this cooperation, we need the press to broadcast our views” argued colonel Ravalomanana.  

Manipulation would allegedly not be a crime here. Colonel Ravalomanana addressed the press’ role during the assault  on the national state police’s intervention forces on May 20th, 2010. “You were the ones to have let known that we went to negotiate without our weapons “, he said. The Viva radio station, belonging to Andry Rajoelina and the HAT official anti opposition propaganda station actually played this role all alone. Besides, the Fahazavana radio station was, by that time, broadcast something very much different until the station’s reporters and technicians were arrested on…Viva’s bidding.  

The HAT police forces blame journalists for distorting the information. Colonel Ravalomanana’s Emmo Reg pledged an effort to help reporters complete their re-enactement reports. The systematic disparagement of contradictory voices has always been a weapon used by the police forces, subsequently turned into a political policing force, at the expenses of journalists.  

“A certain amount of police forces led violent clashes with reporters, we agreed on reducing them” Theodore Ernest dixit form the AJJM. The association failed from getting colonel Ravalomanana’s committment to put an end to these violences, and has to make do with their reduction. In order to make matters worse, reporters are now having the bad guy’s suit as the Emmo Reg’s officials are requiring them to halt every form of provocation if they are not keen on getting the stick response.  

Colonel Ravalomanana had strived to provide the violence directed against the Frequence Plus radio station’s reporters and technicians in the run of reactionary Ambroise Ravonison’s arrest operation with excuses. “How could you know whether these people from the Frequency Plus station shouted at police officers or not?”, he declared. As for the Fahazavana radio station’s reporter, the Emmo Reg is already holding them as guilty. This resistance radio station opposed to the HAT has been charged with all possible offenses.  

The advice granted to colleagues is even more distressing: “reporters have no right to require the release of other jailed reporters”. The single allowed solidarity evidence is the support of prisoners’ families. Regarding the on going press freedom recession, one can hardly believe that the year 2009’s putsch was basically fuelled by the Communication ministry led closing of the Viva TV station, Andry Rajoelina’s station. One year later, the administrative measure is coming together with trials and physical violence against reporters.