Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reiterated its call for the release of Aboubacar Gourouza, the editor of independent bimonthly L’Eveil Plus, after a Niamey court today sentenced him to a month in prison for allegedly “discrediting” a court decision in an article in his newspaper by comparing the decision with one taken in a similar case.
“Our concern is mounting as the space for free expression contracts in Niger,” Paris-based RSF said in a statement. “Editorials commenting on and sometimes comparing court decisions after the event is common practice in democratic countries but in Niger it seems to be regarded as a crime. Gourouza’s conviction is clearly anti-democratic.”
Gourouza was convicted for an article comparing the provisional release of the mayor of the southern city of Maradi, who is accused of embezzlement, with a decision to keep the mayor of Niamey, who is also accused of embezzlement, in prison. The editor was fined 50,000 CFA francs (76 euros) as well as getting a one-month jail term.
Gourouza has been held in Niamey prison ever since his arrest on February 27. The prosecutor originally requested a three-month sentence and a fine of 50,000 CFA francs. Gourouza was also charged with defamation as a result of a complaint brought by a politician, Mohamed Keita, but Keita withdrew his complaint after the start of the trial.
The defamation complaint was withdrawn by Keita, a politician and former member of the National Movement for Society and Development, at the request of several journalists at the start of the trial on March 3.
The prosecution, however, went ahead on the other complaint, about an article in which Keita contrasted two court decisions, one granting a provisional release for the mayor of Maradi, who is accused of embezzlement, and the other keeping the mayor of Niamey, who is also accused of embezzlement, in prison.
