(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 26 October 2000 CPJ press release: NIGER: TWO JOURNALISTS JAILED FOR “LYING” ABOUT BORDER DISPUTE New York, October 26, 2000 — Niger authorities have arrested two local journalists for publishing an article on an ongoing border dispute between Niger and neighboring Benin, sources in the capital, Niamey, told CPJ. […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 26 October 2000 CPJ press release:
NIGER: TWO JOURNALISTS JAILED FOR “LYING” ABOUT BORDER DISPUTE
New York, October 26, 2000 — Niger authorities have arrested two local journalists for publishing an article on an ongoing border dispute between Niger and neighboring Benin, sources in the capital, Niamey, told CPJ. Those arrested are Tahirou Glos, editor of the independent Niamey weekly L’Enquêteur, and staff reporter Maiga Soumaina. They were arrested on October 24 on unspecified charges arising from an article by Soumaina in that day’s edition of the paper. The piece commented on the resumption last week of a decade-old dispute between Niger and Benin over Tete Island, a small landmass in the Niger River between the two countries with a tiny bi-national rural population.
L’Enquêteur earlier reported that Benin had deployed troops on Tete Island to chase away residents with Niger citizenship, and alleged that Benin was planning to cut diplomatic relations with Niger.
Reacting to the journalists’ arrest in an interview with the BBC, Defense Minister Sabiu Dady Gao accused the paper of “insulting” the two countries and “lying” about their respective positions in the present dispute. Both Glos and Soumaina remain in detention at the time of writing, despite constitutional guarantees that detention without charge must not exceed 48 hours.
“There is no possible justification for jailing a journalist because of his work,” said CPJ Africa program coordinator Yves Sorokobi. “Society’s right to be informed is compromised when journalists are prevented from reporting on issues of legitimate public concern. We urge Niger authorities to release Glos and Soumaina immediately.”
END
CPJ is a New York-based, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization of journalists that works to promote press freedom around the world. For more information on press conditions in Niger, visit the CPJ web site at .
