ABIDJAN: Burkina Faso’s military government said Tuesday it had arrested eight members of a humanitarian group, including three Europeans, accusing them of “spying and treason.”
Security Minister Mahamadou Sana said the eight were members of INSO, a Netherlands-based group specializing in humanitarian safety, and included a Frenchman, a French-Senegalese woman, a Czech man, a Malian and four Burkinabe nationals.
Those arrested included the country director of the NGO in the west African state and his deputy, Sana said.
The director had previously been arrested at the end of July when the NGO was suspended for three months by the authorities for “collecting sensitive data without authorization.”
The NGO, based in The Hague, provides security analyzes for other humanitarian organizations.
Sana alleged it “collected and passed on sensitive security information that could be detrimental to national security and the interests of Burkina Faso, to foreign powers.”
He said that despite being banned from operating on July 31, some members “continued to clandestinely or covertly conduct activities such as information collection and meetings in person or online.”
Burkina Faso’s military junta has turned away from the West and in particular its former colonial master France since seizing power in a September 2022 coup.
Burkinabe authorities often repress dissent, notably within civil society and the media, claiming it as part of the battle against militant violence that has plagued the country for a decade.
Burkina junta arrests European NGO workers for ‘spying’
https://arab.news/ztkts
Burkina junta arrests European NGO workers for ‘spying’
- Those arrested included the country director of the NGO in the west African state and his deputy, Sana said
- The NGO, based in The Hague, provides security analyzes for other humanitarian organizations
Charlie Kirk murder suspect appears in US court
LOS ANGELES: The man accused of killing right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk appeared in person in a US court for the first time on Thursday.
Tyler Robinson looked on calmly as lawyers discussed procedural issues surrounding what is expected to be one of the most keenly watched trials in modern America.
The clean-shaven 22-year-old wore a light shirt and a tie in the Utah court. The judge ruled at an earlier hearing that he did not have to appear in court in prison garb.
Kirk was shot dead on a Utah college campus in September, sparking a wave of grief among conservatives, and threats of a clampdown on the “radical left” from President Donald Trump.
Following a massive manhunt, Robinson was arrested the day after the September 10 killing when his family persuaded him to hand himself in because they had recognized him in photographs issued by investigators.
He faces the death penalty if convicted of aggravated murder.
Authorities say Robinson shot Kirk from a rooftop across the campus of Utah Valley University because of the influential activist’s views.
They have cited text message exchanges between Robinson and his roommate, whom they described as “a biological male who was transitioning genders.”
In one part of the exchange, the roommate, who was not named, asked Robinson why he had killed Kirk.
“I had enough of his hatred,” Robinson is alleged to have written. “Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
Kirk, a father of two, used his audiences on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to build support for conservative talking points, including strong criticism of the transgender rights movement.
In the wake of the murder, a number of people lost their jobs after criticism from conservatives over what they posted online or said publicly about Kirk.
Comedian Jimmy Kimmel was briefly suspended from his show on the ABC network following government pressure after he said Trump’s MAGA movement was trying to make political capital from the killing.
