Authorities in Niger have charged two French journalists with colluding with armed groups in the country's uranium-rich north, which could carry the death penalty if they are convicted, their lawyer said on Saturday.
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Thomas Dandois and Pierre Creisson are accused of violating the terms of their media accreditation to film a report about bird flu in the southern city of Maradi, instead traveling to film rebel fighters in the country's Saharan north. Northern Niger has been under a state of alert since August and foreign reporters are banned as part of efforts to combat rebels who have killed at least 49 government security personnel since they launched their uprising in February.
The Niger Justice Movement (MNJ), led by light-skinned Tuareg nomadic tribesmen, says its members are fighting for more autonomy from the black African-led government in the south and for a greater share of their region's mineral wealth. The government dismisses them as bandits and smugglers.
Dandois and Creisson were ordered to be held in a prison in Kollo, about 25 km (15 miles) southeast of the capital Niamey, where they were arrested on Monday. The crime could carry the death penalty, their lawyer, Coulibaly Moussa, told reporters in Niamey, saying: "This is a serious setback for liberty and the rule of law."
Paris-based press freedom watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres this week demanded the release of reporter Dandois and cameraman Creisson, who were employed by Camicas Productions and were in Niger compiling a report for European TV station ARTE. |