Nigeria, July 3 -- Since he came to power, Captain Ibrahim Traore has been trampling on Burkina Faso's renowned culture of journalism with his repressive military boots, from banning news outlets to exiling reporters in the name of nationalism. Now, he's resorting to a deeply alarming new tactic to stifle press freedom hardly seen anywhere else on the African continent: journalists who criticise the government are being forcibly conscripted into the army.

A dramatic development in June 2024 thrust the situation into the spotlight: four news professionals - Serge Oulon, Adama Bayala, Kalifara Sere and Alain Traore - were abducted in the space of ten days. All of them had made public statements that displeased the authorities. Oulon was on...