(JED/IFEX) – On 15 August 2005, a N’Djamena court sentenced Sy Koumbo Singa Gali, publication director for the independent “L’Observateur”, to 12 months’ prison without parole and a 100,000 CFCA fine (approx. US$188;152 euros) in relation to an interview the paper had earlier published with another jailed “Observateur” journalist, Garonde Djarma. Koumbo was immediately taken […]
(JED/IFEX) – On 15 August 2005, a N’Djamena court sentenced Sy Koumbo Singa Gali, publication director for the independent “L’Observateur”, to 12 months’ prison without parole and a 100,000 CFCA fine (approx. US$188;152 euros) in relation to an interview the paper had earlier published with another jailed “Observateur” journalist, Garonde Djarma. Koumbo was immediately taken into custody at the N’Djamena detention centre, where she will join three other journalists jailed in the past month and facing heavy sentences.
The case against Koumbo stems from comments made by Djarma during the “Observateur” interview. The journalist alleged his arrest had been the result of “Janjaweed manipulation.” The term “Janjaweed” was meant to imply Chadian Arabs.
In response to Chad’s deteriorating press freedom situation, JED – which also manages the alerts network for the Central African Media Organisation (Organisation des Médias d’Afrique Centrale, OMAC, of which Chad is a member) – sent one of its members to Chad. The envoy was able to meet with both the information minister, Hoummdji Moussa, and the justice minister, Edouard Ngarta, both of whom expressed their inability to stem the tide of repression against the Chadian media.
In a letter last week to Chadian President Idriss Deby, JED expressed its concern over the situation of press freedom in the country and urged the government to stop jailing journalists for carrying out their professional work.
