Two French journalists who face a possible death sentence for interviewing Tuareg rebels in the southern Sahara have been released on bail and are expected to leave Niger for Paris during the night, their lawyer said on Friday.
"This is it -- they're free. They're going to take a flight for Paris at 2am," and are expected to arrive at 2:55pm, defense lawyer Moussa Coulibaly said.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in Paris he was "pleased with the decision by the Niger judiciary which today led to the release of Thomas Dandois and Pierre Creisson, who have arrived at the French embassy in Niamey."
"They're expected back in France tomorrow [Saturday]," he added in a statement.
Creisson and Dandois -- on assignment for Franco-German TV channel Arte -- were arrested on Dec. 17 on charges of "undermining the security of the state," which in Niger carries a possible death penalty.
"We're happy to be free. We thank all those who helped us -- in Paris and here -- and the journalistic community ... It's important for us to be able to see our families again," Creisson told journalists after leaving prison.
"Everything went well. We're very happy to be free again," Dandois said.
"I'm as happy as my clients are," Coulibaly said, adding that he was particularly happy to see that his country's legal system had applied "the law and nothing but the law."
According to the media rights group Reporters Without Borders, the bail set for each of the men was 10 million CFA francs (US$22,125).
The men's lawyers said family and friends had raised the money earlier in the day after the men's request for bail was granted by an investigating judge in Niamey.
Another member of the defense team, William Bourdon, had earlier said in Paris that the case was continuing and that the team of lawyers would try "to have it dismissed for lack of evidence."
While Creisson and Dandois had obtained permission to film in central and southern Niger for a report on bird flu, they also traveled north to interview Tuareg rebels of the Movement of Niger People for Justice (MNJ), the Niger authorities have said.
The journalists, and Arte, have acknowledged that seeing the rebels was a breach of media restrictions in the west African country.
The government in Niger dismisses the Tuareg fighters of the southern Sahara as bandits and accuses them of links with drug traffickers.
Two other journalists, Niger nationals, have been detained for the past few months over alleged links with the Tuareg rebels.
Moussa Kaka, who works for Radio France Internationale and who also faces the death sentence, has been held since September last year. The case against him rests solely on telephone interviews with MNJ leaders held to be "complicity to undermine the security of the state."
Niger's Court of Appeal announced on Tuesday that it will rule on Feb. 12 on "the legal or illegal nature" of these taped phone calls and whether they can be admitted as evidence.
Ibrahim Manzo, manager of the fortnightly Air-Info, has meanwhile been held since October last year for "criminal association" for suspected links with the rebels.
Local human rights groups argued for the "unconditional release" of all four journalists on the grounds that detaining them for doing their job "undermines the international image of Niger."
The MNJ wants Tuaregs -- traditionally a nomadic Berber people -- to be included in Niger's army and paramilitary corps and to benefit from the mining sector.
It has claimed numerous attacks on military targets in the Agadez region where Niger's uranium mines are situated.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
RSS