(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 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 and 25 May, in which a collective of civil society groups commented on the draft amendment to the country’s Constitution. The HCC said the commercial was of a political nature, thereby violating the broadcast law governing private radio stations in the country and opening the door to penalties.
In their commercial, the civil society groups urged Chadian citizens to launch a one-day strike action and reject the proposed constitutional amendment. They said the purpose of the amendment is to allow President Idris Deby to extend his mandate indefinitely.
Commenting on the HCC’s accusations and threat, FM Liberté editor-in-chief Evariste Ngaralbaye said, “The statement [concerning the constitutional amendment] was not made in the context of a political programme or news bulletin, but was just like any other regular paid commercial. We consider it to be nothing more that an announcement bringing in revenue for the station.”
