The managing editor of the independent Le Canard Dechaine newspaper, Abdoulaye Tiémogo, has been sentenced to eight months imprisonment. The Niamey Regional Court which convicted Tiémogo on June 28, 2002, for the offence of “insult and libel” against Prime Minister Hama Amadou, further slapped a fine of CFA50,000 francs on him.
He is also to pay one million CFA francs in damages to the Prime Minister. The journalist had no lawyer to represent him at the trial.
Tiémogo was arrested on June 18, after the Prime Minister had filed a complaint of defamation against him for a publication carried in his newspaper. He was ordered detained on June 19, and denied bail until his conviction 11 days later.
