Mauritius Government Halts State Subscriptions to Opposition Newspaper L'Express

Jean-Claude de l’Estrac, board chairman of La Sentinelle, has told Reporters Without Borders that the government of Mauritius issued direct orders to all ministries, state agencies, and public libraries to cancel their subscriptions to L’Express newspaper. Officials were instructed not to receive copies of the publication, and the paper has been barred from government press conferences. In some municipal libraries, copies have been removed entirely.

The restrictions followed the May 5 legislative elections, which brought Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam’s administration to power. De l’Estrac characterized the measures as part of a four-year pattern of systematic boycott that has now reached what he called alarming proportions. The government has accused L’Express and its parent company La Sentinelle of favoring the opposition, and de l’Estrac stated that Ramgoolam allegedly warned the newspaper’s leadership before taking office that they would face consequences for their perceived support of opposition parties.

The measures have intensified since the May elections. That escalation drew a formal response from Archbishop Maurice Piat of Port-Louis, who issued a statement through the diocesan website condemning the campaign against the media group.

Piat was direct. “Attacking freedom of information harms the proper functioning of democracy,” he declared, warning that the slow strangulation of a press group, if allowed to continue, would threaten the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression. He grounded his objection in Catholic social teaching, citing the Church’s Compendium of Social Doctrine to argue that information is among the principal instruments of democratic participation. “No participation is conceivable without knowledge of the problems facing the political community, of factual data, and of various proposed solutions,” he stated.

The archbishop argued that the state’s proper role is to establish legal frameworks enabling the free circulation of information, not to restrict it. He noted that Mauritius has been committed to democratic values since independence, and that independence itself was achieved through freedom of expression that guaranteed healthy democratic operation.

Piat connected the attack on press freedom to broader threats to civil liberties, arguing that all freedoms are interconnected: freedom of expression, freedom of movement and assembly, freedom to choose and practice religion, and freedom of conscience. When one freedom is compromised, he warned, all others face danger. He called on Mauritians who value freedom to remain vigilant and speak out at the first sign of threat.

He closed with a reflection attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller about the dangers of silence in the face of successive attacks on different groups, arguing that solidarity in defending these freedoms is essential.

Meanwhile, condemnation has come from several directions. Reporters Without Borders, Amnesty International, and Mauritian opposition parties have all criticized the campaign against La Sentinelle, joining the archbishop in opposing what they describe as an assault on press freedom and democratic governance.

Whether the government will ease its restrictions on L’Express, or whether the pressure on La Sentinelle will continue to deepen, remains the open question facing Mauritius’s media landscape in the months ahead.