Zada Hassane Badjé, the head of Canal 3 station in Dosso and the publishing director of the newspaper Toubal, was sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined 2 million CFA francs (about $3,500).
He was placed under a committal order on 25 August 2025 in Dosso, in south-western Niger. The case stemmed from a leaked WhatsApp audio recording that circulated on social media, in which Zada, according to sources was recorded without his knowledge making “insulting” remarks about General Abdourahamane Tiani, the head of Niger’s military government.
Zada subsequently apologised to General Tiani in a second audio message that he circulated on social media.
Despie the apology, Zada was tried on 2 September 2025 before the High Court in Niamey on charges of “disseminating information likely to disturb public order”, “verbal abuse” and “defamation”. The prosecution sought a five-year prison sentence without parole. He was held at the Niamey Civil Prison. On 16 September, the court sentenced him to 30 months in prison and a fine of 2 million CFA francs.
Zada was also the regional coordinator of the M62 movement, a civil-society platform in Dosso that initially supported the military government and from which he was expelled after his arrest.
Zada’s case reflects a wider crackdown in Niger on critical voices and journalists, marked by the authorities’ intolerance of remarks or public-interest commentary by figures in civil society, the media and even ordinary citizens.
In a related case, Ali Soumana, publishing director of the weekly Le Courrier, was also arrested in September 2025 over a complaint by Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine concerning an article that alleged the prime minister had signed a settlement to avoid prosecution over a cigarette customs fraud. He was charged with defamation and related offences and held at Say prison.
Two months earlier, three journalists from Sahara FM, Hamid Mahmoud, Mahaman Sani and Massaouda Jaharou, were rearrested over an article about the end of a military partnership between Niger and Russia. Massaouda Jaharou was released under judicial supervision, while the other two remained in detention at the Kollo Central Prison.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) condemns the conviction of the journalist over remarks made in private that he did not himself disseminate. The MFWA calls for his immediate and unconditional release, for the charges against him to be dropped, and for the release of other journalists who remain in detention. The MFWA also urges the Nigerien authorities to honour their national, regional and international human rights commitments by respecting freedom of expression and freedom of the press.