Chad

(JED/IFEX) – On 23 August 2005, Moussa Mahamat Dago, president of the High Council of Communication (Haut conseil de la communication, HCC), the body that regulates Chad’s media, authorised the resumption of broadcasts by Radio Brakoss, a community station based in Moïssala, a village about 700 km from the capital, N’Djamena. The decision to reopen […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 15 August 2005 CPJ press release: CHAD: A fourth journalist is jailed for “inciting hatred” New York, August 15, 2005 – A Chadian journalist was sentenced to one year in prison today for “inciting hatred,” the fourth reporter jailed in a month in what local journalists called a growing […]

(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 […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF strongly condemns the continued harassment of independent journalists in Chad, after a six-month prison sentence was handed down to “Le Temps” director Michaël Didama on 8 August 2005. Sy Koumbo Singa Gali, publication director for the independent “L’Observateur”, also faces legal action in a separate case. Didama was sentenced to 6 months’ […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is an 18 July 2005 CPJ press release: CHAD: Two journalists imprisoned for articles critical of the president New York, July 18, 2005 – One journalist was sentenced to three years in prison and another to three months today for commentaries in the private weekly L’Observateur that criticized President Idriss Déby, […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ letter to Chadian President Idriss Déby: July 7, 2005 His Excellency Idriss Déby President of the Republic of Chad C/o the Embassy of Chad 2002 R Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 Via facsimile: (202) 265-1937 Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the criminal […]

(RSF/IFEX) – On 4 July 2005, a lower criminal court in N’Djamena ordered the release of “L’Observateur” journalists Samory Ngaradoumbé and Garondé Djarma, who were arrested on 22 June. “Le Temps” editor Michael Didama, who was arrested the same day on an unrelated charge, is still being held. A court is due to hear his […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 22 June 2005 CPJ press release: CHAD: Three journalists jailed on criminal charges New York, June 22, 2005 – Chadian authorities have jailed three journalists since yesterday in the capital, N’Djamena, on criminal charges stemming from critical reporting, sources told the Committee to Protect Journalists. Today, authorities arrested and […]

(RSF/IFEX) – On 4 June 2005, Ngaradoumbé Samory, a journalist with the privately-owned weekly “L’Observateur”, was arrested following the publication of an open letter to President Idriss Deby. Samory was arrested by the National Security Agency (Agence nationale de sécurité, ANS), Chad’s counter-espionage service, and held for questioning. His arrest followed the 1 June publication […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called on Chad’s High Council of Communications (Haut Conseil de la communication, HCC) to rescind its week-long suspension of the privately-owned non-profit radio station DJA FM. The station was suspended from 17 to 24 January 2005. The organisation also urged the regulatory body to withdraw its threat to close down the […]

(JED/IFEX) – On 2 June 2004, the administrative chamber of N’Djamena’s Supreme Court, in the Chadian capital, ordered the government to pay six million CFA francs (approx. US$11,200) in damages to the N’Djamena-based community radio station FM Liberté, for losses incurred when the station was forced to close between 21 October and 9 December 2003.

(JED/IFEX) – On 26 May 2004, High Council for Communications (Haut conseil de la communication, HCC) President Moussa Dago threatened to order the closure of FM Liberté, a community radio station based in the capital, N’Djamena. In a letter to FM Liberté’s director, the HCC president criticised the station for airing a commercial, between 19 […]

(JED/IFEX) – On 22 May 2004, a team of local police officers, under the authority of an unidentified senior officer, raided the newsroom of “N’djamena Hebdo”, a newspaper published out of the capital of N’djamena. The officers were reportedly looking for the paper’s publication director, or possibly other journalists. None were present at the time […]

(JED/IFEX) – On 9 February 2004, Radio Brakos director Vatankhah Tchanguis was arrested and severely beaten by order of the Bahr police chief. The journalist was released 48 hours later. He is reportedly in critical condition and requires urgent medical attention. According to information received by JED and confirmed by the Chadian Union of Private […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has protested the indefinite closure, on 21 October 2003, of the community radio station FM-Liberté by the Public Security Ministry for “illegal operation and deviant behaviour”. This decision follows the broadcast of a report that was very critical of President Idriss Deby. “The evolution of freedom of expression in Chad had been […]

(RSF/IFEX) – On 1 April 2003, Chad’s Appeals Court agreed to the provisional release of two journalists. Following a few administrative formalities, Nadjikimo Bénoudjita, publication director of the weekly “Notre Temps”, and Mbainaye Bétoubam, the newspaper’s deputy editor-in-chief, were allowed to return to their homes. The substance of the case against the reporters will be […]