 Africa Inform International - Shaping African Images... | sitemap | log in
|
 |
||
| Spanglefish Gold Status Expired 20/07/2014. | ||
Welcome to Africa Inform International Blogsphere...The Blogs which are published here are not always written by Africa Inform International
Mr. Timothy Kalyegira, a renown Online editor accused of sedition.Africa's coup-prone historyAfrica: The right to secedeOne-man Rule In Equatorial GuineaIndex Niger editor charged with criminal libel; second behind barsby COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS - 21:31 on 24 September 2009
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS
330 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001 USA Phone: (212) 465-1004 Fax: (212) 465-9568 Web: www.cpj.org Niger editor charged with criminal libel; second behind bars
New York, September 24, 2009—A newspaper editor in police custody in Niger since Sunday was charged with criminal libel on Wednesday in connection with a story accusing a top official of involvement in a corruption scandal, according to local journalists and news reports.
Ibrahim Soumana Gaoh of the private weekly Le Témoin was being held at the central prison in the capital Niamey pending trial on Tuesday, according to the paper’s editor-in-chief, Amadou Tiémogo.
A story in the September 14 edition of Le Témoin alleged that former Niger Communications Minister Mohamed Ben Omar was the subject of a criminal investigation triggered by the findings of a parliamentary inquiry last year, according to Tiémogo. The inquiry revealed the embezzlement of more than 2 billion CFA francs (US$4.5 million) in the national telecom company SONITEL and led to the arrests of executives, according to news reports. Police summoned Gaoh on Sunday morning after Omar filed a complaint, he said.
“Gaoh is the second journalist held behind bars in Niger as the government continues criminal prosecution of journalists who report on corruption,” CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes said. “Gaoh should be released and the charges dropped immediately.”
Gaoh was the second journalist imprisoned in Niger after Abdoulaye Tiémogo of weekly Le Canard Déchaîné. CPJ research shows that criminal libel allegations hang over at least three other Nigerien journalists: Laoual Sallaou Ismael of La Roue de l’Histoire, Ali Soumana of Le Courrier, and Abibou Garba of the private media group Dounia.
A constitutional amendment passed in August eliminates presidential term limits, allowing President Mamadou Tanjda to seek indefinite re-election. It also allows Tanjda to tighten his grip on the press in Niger by giving him the power to name most members to the country’s media regulatory agency.
CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide since 1981. For more information, visit www.cpj.org.
Add your comment Please note that whenever you submit something which may be publicly shown on a website you should take care not to make any statements which could be considered defamatory to any person or organisation. |  |
|
 | ||