Mauritanian writer and journalist Abou Abbass Ould Braham, the editor of the news website Taqadoumy, was released on March 18 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 office ordered its closure, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported.
“The closure of a website and the arrest of one of its editors are unprecedented in Mauritania,” RSF said. “This development, which is particularly disturbing as it opens the way for all kinds of abuses, was made possible by the legal vacuum in which the electronic media operate in Mauritania. The relevant authorities must urgently address this issue and adopt legislation that regulates the Internet while respecting free expression.”
The prosecutor-general announced Braham’s release and the website’s reopening March 18 morning. A Nouakchott criminal court had ordered Taqadoumy’s closure the day before at the request of prosecutors for posting “mendacious and defamatory” information. The prosecutor’s office said the order was issued “after receiving repeated complaints from people, establishments and officials that Taqadoumy had disseminated mendacious reports.” The court accused the site of violating journalistic ethics and undermining national unity by means of “defamation and inciting hatred.”
Braham, a Nouakchott University professor who often writes articles in Arabic and English that he posts on the website, was arrested on the evening of March 15 while in a café with several friends.
A number of journalists staged a demonstration in support of Braham the next day outside the United Nations office in Nouakchott, brandishing placards saying “Don’t gag free expression” and “No to a backward step for press freedom in Mauritania.” They were dispersed violently by anti-riot police using batons and teargas. Several of the journalists were roughed up, including Hachem Sidi Salem of Al Hourra TV and Reuters, Ahmedou Ould Wedia of the Arabic-language daily Siraj and Abdallahi Ould Etvagha El Moktar of Sahara Media.
Mohamed Ould Meine, the military government’s spokesman and a former communication minister, gave a news conference 24 hours later in which he said he “regretted” the use of violence against the protesting journalists but did not comment on Braham’s arrest or Taqadoumy’s closure.
In 2005, RSF helped the Mauritanian authorities draft amendments to a law on free expression that led to the abolition of censorship. In the same way, the organisation stands ready to help the authorities and journalists draft a law guaranteeing online free expression.
