Mauritania

Reporters Without Borders condemns charges that were brought against Hanevy Ould Dehah, the editor of the website Taqadoumy.

On 18 June, the director of the news website Taqadoumy, Hanevy Ould Dehah, was arrested on the orders of the prosecutor’s office.

Police in Mauritania physically assaulted a group of journalists and prevented them from covering a sit-down strike by members of the National Bar Association

The journalist was left for dead after being battered and slashed by two men wielding baseball bats and knives on the evening of 12 May 2009

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 4 May 2009, Mamouni Ould Moctar, reporter with Agence Nouakchott d’Information, a Nouakchott-based newswire service, was manhandled by political party activists who were protesting the electoral timetable proposed by the military junta to return the country to democratic rule. Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) correspondent reported that the demonstrators, who were […]

Reporters Without Borders hails the release of Abdel Fettah Ould Abeidna, editor of the weekly “Al Aqsa”, on 8 April 2009 as a result of a pardon issued by the head of the military government, Gen. Ould Abdel Aziz.

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has learned that writer and journalist Abou Abbass Ould Brahim, the editor of the news website Taqadoumy ( http://www.taqadoumy.com ), was released on 18 March 2009 after being held for three days in the Mauritanian capital and that the website was allowed to reopen 24 hours after the Nouakchott prosecutor’s […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 11 March 2009, Abdallahi Ould Tfagha Moctar and Mohamed Lemine Ould Moustapha, reporters for Sahara Media, a Nouakchott-based independent newswire service, were arrested by Mauritania National Security personnel, allegedly for filming the entrance to the Nouakchott civil prison. An MFWA correspondent reported that the two reporters were detained for several hours in […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 3 February 2009, the Supreme Court granted bail to Isselmou Ould Abdelkader, a former legislator, after he spent over three months in prison for criticising the country’s military regime. Ould Abdelkader was arrested on 21 October 2008 in Nouakchott by personnel of the National Gendarmerie when the country’s Defence Minister lodged a […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 13 January 2009, Sidi Mohamed Ould Abderrahmane, a journalist with the independent news wire service Agence Nouakchott d’Information, was detained by police. The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)’s correspondent reported that Abderrahmane had gone to the presidential palace to cover a demonstration staged by family members of detainees who have been […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders condemns the imprisonment of Abdel Fettah Ould Abeidna, the editor of the privately-owned Arabic-language weekly “Al-Aqsa”, on 30 November 2008 in Nouakchott on a criminal libel charge. Abeidna was immediately jailed on his arrival from Dubai, from where he was extradited. “Abeidna’s imprisonment is disproportionate and counter-productive, and confirms the […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – Isselmou Ould Abdelkader, an independent researcher who is being detained for criticising the country’s military regime, was charged on 26 October 2008 with two counts of allegedly “lying” and “undermining the morale of the army”. A Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) correspondent reported that, if found guilty of the charges, Abdelkader will […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – Isselmou Ould Abdelkader, an independent researcher and former minister, was arrested on 21 October 2008 in Nouakchott by members of the combined unit of the national gendarmerie following a complaint lodged against him by Mauritania’s defence minister. MFWA’s correspondent reported that during a live debate organized on 6 October by Mauritania’s public television, […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – Mohamed Ould Moustapha, a cameraman with the local Mauritanian office of the Qatari television network Al Jazeera, was assaulted on 8 October 2008 by trade union activists in Nouakchott. A Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) correspondent reported that the assault was caused by an alleged disagreement, which degenerated into offensive exchanges between […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Mohamed Abdellatif, publisher of the privately-owned weekly paper “Al Houriya”, and one of his reporters, Mohamed Nema Oumar, were conditionally released by the Nouakchott appeals court on 17 August 2008. They were arrested and imprisoned on 21 July.

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 7 August 2008, Ahmed Ould Neda, a reporter for Akbar Info, a Nouakchott-based independent news agency, was arrested and detained by the Mauritanian police while covering a demonstration against the new military regime in the country. Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) correspondent reported that Neda’s camera containing pictures of police assaulting […]