(MFWA/IFEX) – On 20 December 2004, issue 99 of the weekly newspaper “Le Témoin” was seized by police in the capital, Niamey. According to MFWA, four plainclothes police officers went to the Nouvelle Imprimerie du Niger (NIN), the country’s largest private printing press, at about 6:00 p.m. (local time), and asked to see the director. […]
(MFWA/IFEX) – On 20 December 2004, issue 99 of the weekly newspaper “Le Témoin” was seized by police in the capital, Niamey.
According to MFWA, four plainclothes police officers went to the Nouvelle Imprimerie du Niger (NIN), the country’s largest private printing press, at about 6:00 p.m. (local time), and asked to see the director. Some minutes later, several uniformed officers arrived at the premises in two pick-up trucks and stormed the workshop of the printing press, despite protests from the NIN director. They seized the paper’s entire print run and materials necessary for the production of the issue, including offset plates. The managing editor of “Le Témoin”, who was present at the time, immediately left the premises after learning that police were asking for him. A major police search for him is under way. He has presently gone into hiding.
In the seized issue, “Le Témoin” was expected to publish a photograph of four soldiers and gendarmes taken hostage by Touareg rebels operating in northern Niger.
