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Madagascar violence, China trial and WWII's causes

by Tony Cross

Article published on the 2009-09-04 Latest update 2009-09-11 12:04 TU

From the exhibition
(Photo: Walter Astrada / Agence France-Presse)

An interview with a photographer has whipped a storm of controversy over events in Madagascar, plus comments on China's Xinjiang province and World War II commemoration ceremonies and RFI's strike flares up again.

A photographer’s comments on Madgascar’s political turmoil has stirred up controversy this week. Aidan O’Donnell interviewed Walter Astrada as part of his coverage of the photojournalism festival in the southern French town of Perpignan this week.

Astrada described the military’s response to a demonstration outside the presidential palace in February as “a massacre”.

Not all of you agree.

“Astrada should have looked closer at the events,” writes Moramanga Expat, claiming that the crowd had become a mob, throwing missiles at the police.

“This is clear in videos from multiple sources and different angles,” he continues. “Taken in the context that Rajoelina's supporter's were burning, looting and killing in cities all across Madagascar the week before the event at Ambohitsorohitra, and that the police lines had been broken through and the police were nearly surrounded by hostile protestors , it's not hard to understand that they panicked and fired into the crowd.”

It was a brutal incident, he says, but not planned by the police. “It may however have been thought out and planned by Andry Rajoelina and Monja Roindefo. They are the people who incited the crowd to storm the palace.”

“I think you misrepresented the crowd that stormed the presidential offices that day,” writes Chris of Madagascar. “I feel that the presidential police were left without options and had to respond. It is unfortunate that there were that number of people who died, BUT it could have been hundreds if the police had really wanted to have a MASSACRE!!!”

“I have always refused to believe that RFI is backing up Andry Rajoelina's Coupt D'Etat but after reading this article, I changed my opinion,” says an anonymous correspondent. “Why did you wait for the failure of the Maputo II talk to bring up these photos and write this article? I think, you should focus more on why the Maputo II talk failed. I wish that RFI would not take sides but just report the news.”

To be absolutely clear, the article reported Astrada’s views and was not an editorial statement by RFI any more than this article is a criticism of them. There was no hidden motive behind the publication of the interview. It appeared because Astrada was present at the Perpignan festival, which we had decided to cover.

The trial that followed this year’s riots in the Chinese province of Xinjiang inspires scepticism in Fatima Collins.

“President Hu Jintao is demonstrating why it is difficult to find his statements about the rights of the Uighurs [the Muslim inhabitants of the reason] credible,” she says. “When his government appears to be lying about the trials of the rioters it reinforces the dubious reputation of his government when dealing with ethnic conflict. I would hate to be a Uighur that he claims is getting in the way of progress in Xinjiang.”

She sends a link to a video she believes “shows the contrasts between Chinese state media and outlets in the rest of the world on the coverage of the impending trials”.


On our Facebook page Marty Fowler comments on ceremonies in Poland to mark the 70^th anniversary of the start of World War II.

“Couldn't wwII he been averted if the countries of France, England and Russia sopped Hitler in 1938 from annexing Bohemia?” he asks.

Would any other readers like to respond?

News about RFI

“I noticed a few days ago your English newscasts are back,” writes Christopher Hobe Morrison from the US. “Welcome back, RFI performs a valuable service nobody else does, and for a lot less.”

Christopher, I hate to have to tell you this but the RFI industrial action has started up again. So you can expect more disruption of our broadcasts until a resolution of some sort is reached.

Most read on RFI this week:

• Two dead as fires threaten Los Angeles suburbs;
• Candidates pull out of Gabon election to back independent;
• Astrada's massacre in Madagascar;
• Floods leave three dead, thousands homeless;
• 'Spiderman' fined for scaling nation's tallest building.

 

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