Evil is not the wickedness of the wicked, but the silence of the good…
December 13 is a day I can never forget. On December 13, 1998, my mentor, investigative journalist Norbert Zongo was murdered. That greatly shaped my political commitment. I rebelled and this frontpage was an immediate result of my first speech at age 18. The corruption my mentor denounced, the words he wrote in his newspaper, the facts he discussed, the power of his work was dangerous for the government of the time in my country of birth Burkina Faso and that is why he had to die. This man was only 49 years old, had a wife and children and had done nothing but his work. The regime responded to him with the death penalty. He was killed and burned in his car 💔. I was 18 but I could not stay indifferent. We had to fight. For him and for freedom. No democracy can exist or survive without a free press.
We don’t only need the separation of powers, of which Montesquieu spoke, but also the strength of this fourth power: a critical and independent press. Otherwise, corruption flourishes and freedoms are lost. I have experienced this up close. In my room in a small remote village in Burkina Faso, I read and understood that it was not only necessary to go out on the streets to defend one man, but also to ensure that justice was done and to protect democracy. It was the beginning of a fierce struggle against a dictatorship that broke my generation but was never able to silence it. Because Norbert Zongo, after President Thomas Sankara, had opened our eyes. He made us see our responsibility as citizens.
I will never forget.
I will always bear that responsibility. Will never take freedom for granted. Will always fight for it.
Because evil is not the wickedness of the wicked, but the silence of the good.
Love and freedom.

🐦🔗: https://nitter.cz/Assita_Kanko/status/1735056934041239946#m

[2023-12-13 21:59 UTC]