Security forces in April detained and questioned Antoine Bationo, a journalist with the private daily Le Pays, after he interviewed former soldiers accused of attempting a coup, according to local sources. The gendarmerie also summoned the paper's publication director, Boureima Jérémie Sigue, and questioned him for several hours. Both journalists were released without charge, but a seized recording device was not immediately returned.

The examining magistrate investigating the 1998 murder of journalist Norbert Zongo dropped charges in July against the only indicted suspect, presidential guard member Marcel Kafando. The judge cited a lack of evidence. Press freedom and human rights activists expressed outrage at the decision and a lawyer for the victim's family said he would appeal. An independent commission of inquiry had concluded in May 1999 that Kafando was one of six "serious suspects" in the murder.

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