The authorities in Benin threatened to deal with both local and foreign media in the country that failed to abide by ethics of the profession, especially in the corruption allegations leveled against President Boni Yayi.
More than half of the country‘s members of parliament had linked PresidentYayi to corruption allegations. They claimed that he offered illegal assistance to Investment Consultancy and Computering Services (ICC), an insurance company, which was reported to have funded his campaign.
A statement issued by the authorities after an extraordinary cabinet meeting said that the government was ready to provide the necessary information regarding the matter.
The statement emphasized that the relevant authorities would deal with any media house that breeched the ethics of the profession.
The threat came in the wake of demands from Members of Parliament (MP) for President Yayi to be tried on charges relating to “abuse of authority and perjury”.
On August 2, 2010 the authorities halted the transmission of Radio France International (RFI) in the country for about 14 hours, after RFI announced that it would discuss the MPs demand on its popular talk show programme « Appels sur l’actualite » on August 3. Raïssa Gbédji, RFI’s correspondent in Cotonou, the capital, was summoned for interrogation by the Théophile Nata, the president of the media regulatory body, Higher Authority for Audiovisual Broadcasting and Communication (HAAC).
