(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Mauritania’s Interior Minister, Lemrabott Sidi Mahmoud Ould Cheikh Ahmed, RSF protested the arrest of Mohamed Fall Ould Oumere, publication director of the French language weekly newspaper “La Tribune”. “To the best of our knowledge, this journalist, who is well-known for his independent viewpoint, was simply doing his job. We […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Mauritania’s Interior Minister, Lemrabott Sidi Mahmoud Ould Cheikh Ahmed, RSF protested the arrest of Mohamed Fall Ould Oumere, publication director of the French language weekly newspaper “La Tribune”. “To the best of our knowledge, this journalist, who is well-known for his independent viewpoint, was simply doing his job. We are calling for his immediate release. We are all the more concerned as we fear that the police may try to use force to extract information from him,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard. “Once again, this arrest shows the extent to which taboo subjects, such as unrecognised political organisations, still exist in Mauritania,” he added
RSF learned that on the evening of 12 April 2002, Mohamed Fall Ould Oumere was arrested by police in Boutilimitt, 150 km east of Nouakchott. A police source told Agence France-Presse that the arrest was part of investigations into the clandestine organisation Conscience and Resistance (CR). On 25 March, “La Tribune” published an article on a recent visit to Mauritania by CR leaders. According to a source close to the journalist, “Mohamed Fall Ould Oumere was about to publish the organisation’s manifesto, which rules out any negotiations with the authorities in power. He was the only person in possession of this document. What’s more, his arrest took place while he was investigating the arrest, the previous day, of Professor Mohamed Baba Ould Said, who was accused of having close links with CR”.
