(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 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 of the search.
According to witnesses, after finding no one in the paper’s offices, the officers parked their vehicle at a close distance, where it remained until early evening. Having been warned of the police presence, the journalists remained in hiding over the weekend.
The official reason for the search remains unknown. However, “N’djamena Hebdo” editor-in-chief Djendoroum Mbaïninga, who spoke to JED by phone from N’djamena on 25 May, believes the events may be linked to a special 20 May edition of the paper devoted to a “failed coup d’Etat”, which allegedly took place on the night of 16 May. Mbaïninga says he suspects the article may have “ruffled a few feathers.”
The state attorney general, contacted by the newspaper with regards to the incident, said he knew nothing of the police action. On 25 May, operations at the paper had returned to normal and journalists were neither arrested nor otherwise harassed by police.
