Reporters without borders
Update
14 August 2006
SIERRA LEONE
Government bows to calls for
extradition of MP's children implicated in editor's
death
Director of public prosecution Oladipoh
Robin Mason has finally requested the extradition of the three
children of ruling party parliamentarian Fatmata Hassan Komeh who
allegedly had a role in the May 2005 beating of For Di People
acting editor Harry Yansaneh.
Ahmed Komeh, Bai Bureh Komeh and Aminata Komeh fled to the United
Kingdom after Yansaneh died as a result of his injuries two and a half
months later.
There was such a media outcry on the first anniversary of Yansaneh's
death on 28 July that, after blocking the case for six months, the
justice ministry asked the high court to request their
extradition.
State counsel Monfred Momoh Sesay confirmed to Freetown high court
judge Claudia Taylor on 8 August that an investigation was still under
way. Proceedings were originally initiated in August 2005, and a jury
concluded at a preliminary hearing before judge Adrian Fisher in
February that Yansaneh's death was a case of involuntary
manslaughter in which several persons including Komeh's three
children were involved.
The state counsel acknowledged to Judge
Taylor that there was sufficient evidence that Harry Yansaneh "died
as a result of grievous bodily harm" inflicted "with intent to
wound". This falls under a British law dating back to 1861, the
Offences Against The Person Act, which should mean that extradition
from the United Kingdom is possible.
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Below is another alert from the CPJ. Please read on...
NIGER: CPJ
condemns continued detention of two journalists
New York, August 14, 2006—The Committee to Protect
Journalists is deeply troubled by Niger’s continued detention of Le
Républicain Director Maman Abou and Editor Oumarou Keita following their trial
today on charges of spreading “false news” and defaming the
government. The two have been in jail since August 4 in connection with a July
opinion piece suggesting that Prime Minister Hama Amadou was “deserting
the West for Iran.”
The prosecutor requested a one-year prison sentence, and a
verdict is expected on September 1, according to CPJ sources in the capital, Niamey. Defense lawyers
staged a walkout at today’s hearing to protest alleged judicial bias. One
of the lawyers, Moussa Coulibaly, told CPJ that the judge had refused to hear a
number of defense motions, including a request for bail. “They have
decided to make an example of them, so that other free thinkers don’t go
poking around in dirty state laundry and reveal cases of corruption,” he
said in a phone interview.
The defendants claim that the government is trying to punish
them for a series of news articles beginning in April that alleged government
corruption in primary education financing. For more information, see CPJ’s
August 7 alert:
http://www.cpj.org/news/2006/africa/niger07aug06na.html
“It’s outrageous that these two journalists are
being kept in jail for doing their jobs, a situation made all the more
egregious by reports of judicial bias,” CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said. “We call on President Mamadou
Tandja to ensure that Maman Abou and Oumarou Keita are released
immediately.”
Following an initial court appearance on August 8, Abou was
sent to prison in Tera, 187 kilometers (116 miles) west of Niamey, and Keita to Filingué, 80 kilometers
(50 miles) north of the capital, according to CPJ sources. They were returned
there following today’s hearing, the sources said. Coulibaly told CPJ
this violated a law requiring that detainees be kept in a detention facility
within the court’s jurisdiction. He said Abou was deprived of reading
material and access to the radio.
CPJ is a New York–based,
independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom
worldwide. For more information, visit www.cpj.org.