Niger's military government has held journalists under its cybercrime law since October 2025 for sharing a press invitation
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Police in Niamey arrested six journalists on 30 October 2025 after they shared a press invitation about new mandatory payments to the junta's Solidarity Fund for the Safeguarding of the Homeland, and charged them with complicity in distributing documents likely to disturb public order under a 2019 cybercrime law amended in 2024 to carry up to five years in prison. Human Rights Watch said three remained in Kollo prison at the time of its report and called for charges to be dropped. Separately, Hamid Mahmoud of Radio Sahara FM was freed on 18 July 2026 after more than a year of pretrial detention on charges including undermining national defence; Ibro Chaibou remained imprisoned.
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● confirmed by a primary document · ○ reported
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1 source
- www.hrw.orgDocument
Six journalists arrested 30 October 2025; charged with 'complicity in distributing documents likely to disturb public order'
1 source
- EWN
junta arrested 13 journalists in 2025
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