At least 4 journalists shot, assaulted in Madagascar protests

Dakar, October 21, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in Madagascar to investigate those responsible for shooting two journalists and assaulting two others covering protests in Madagascar that forced the president to flee.

“It is unacceptable that journalists who were simply reporting on a major news event were targeted by law enforcement agents,” said Moussa Ngom, CPJ’s Francophone Africa representative. “Malagasy authorities should investigate the perpetrators of violence against journalists and ensure a safe working environment for the press.”

On September 25, young people, calling themselves Gen Z Madagascar, started protesting over water and electricity shortages. On October 11, an elite military unit, known as CAPSAT, defected and joined the protests, as news broke that President Andry Rajoelina had been evacuated from the Indian Ocean island.

On October 14, the high constitutional court declared the president’s post “vacant” and asked a member of CAPSAT, Michael Randrianirina, to take over as head of state.

CPJ research has found:

• On October 11, freelance photographer Harry Tiana Teddy was shot during an exchange of fire between military gendarmes and CAPSAT soldiers outside the gendarmerie headquarters in the capital, Antananarivo, according to reports by Le Quotidien newspaper and freelance photographer Rijasolo Rija, who was a witness.

The Politika Ranoray Facebook page posted a video with a caption that said it had been filmed by Teddy as he was shot.

• On September 30, Léonard Joseph Andriamparany, a reporter for Real TV Madagasikara, was punched in the nose and mouth by a gendarme while he was filming in Antananarivo, the journalist told CPJ. Tear gas was then thrown to disperse a group of journalists while they were interviewing him about the incident and another on September 25, when a gendarme knocked his phoned out of his hands while he was filming and damaged it, Andriamparany said.

• On September 26, Reny Hardy Juvaniàh, a reporter for the religious station Radio Fahazavana Diego, was shot in the lower abdomen while covering a protest in the northern town of Antsiranana, according to The Madagascar Order of Journalists (OJM), a professional association, which posted photos of her in hospital.

• On September 25, Alan Rakotondraibe, a photojournalist for the privately owned newspaper L’Express, was hit twice by a GSIS gendarme while trying to photograph him in Antananarivo. The OJM also shared a video of the assault with CPJ.

CPJ’s calls to request comment from the gendarmerie and the army went unanswered.