(RSF/IFEX) – On 18 February 2003, Abdoulaye Tiémogo, managing editor of the weekly newspaper “Le Canard déchaîné”, was released from prison after completing his eight-month sentence. Contacted by RSF, he said he hoped to “continue publishing [his] newspaper,” while saying that he would be preparing his publication with “greater caution” from now on. Officers from […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 18 February 2003, Abdoulaye Tiémogo, managing editor of the weekly newspaper “Le Canard déchaîné”, was released from prison after completing his eight-month sentence. Contacted by RSF, he said he hoped to “continue publishing [his] newspaper,” while saying that he would be preparing his publication with “greater caution” from now on.
Officers from the Niamey Criminal Investigation Department arrested Tiémogo on 18 June 2002, after Prime Minister Hama Amadou filed a complaint against the journalist. Tiémogo was found guilty of “defamation and insults” after publishing three highly-critical articles in which he accused Amadou of seeking to bribe the speaker of the National Assembly in order to retain the post of prime minister. A Niamey court had previously charged the managing editor of “Le Canard déchaîné” on 19 October 2001 after he criticised Agricuture Minister Wassalké Boukari, who was implicated in a corruption scandal.
RSF also recalls that the radio station Nomade FM, which broadcasts in the Agadez region, 1,000 kilometres north-east of the capital, Niamey, was shut down on 11 February. The authorities accuse Nomade FM of “inciting rebellion.” The move followed the station’s invitation to two former anti-government rebels to join a debate on one of its programmes. On 17 February, the organisation called on the authorities to allow Nomade FM to reopen at once and let the station’s journalists do their jobs freely.