Samira Sabou, an award-winning journalist from Niger, has been criminalized for publishing posts about issues of public interest on her official accounts on social media. Sabou has published about alleged misuses of funds by the Ministry of Defence and drug trafficking in Niger. Sabou has been charged with “defamation by a means of electronic communication” under Article 29 of Niger’s 2019 Cybercrime Law. This Law has been widely misused to censor journalists speaking out and criticizing the government. Sabou is waiting on appeals decisions from two cases against her and could still face prison and/or fines.
On May 26, 2020, journalist Samira Sabou, editor with the privately owned Niger Search news website, manager of the Mides-Niger news website and President of the Niger bloggers association, published a post on her official Facebook account. In her post, she mentioned an alleged connection between “the son of the boss of the country” and an audit of the military. It also mentioned that according to several sources, including Jeune Afrique news site, “the son of the boss of the country” had won contracts from the Ministry of Defense. The post included a screenshot of an article published on March 24, 2020 by Jeune Afrique. A Facebook user mentioned in a comment the name of Sani Mahamadou Issoufou, the son of the former President and deputy director of the Head of State’s cabinet.
Sani Mahamadou Issoufou filed a complaint for defamation against Samira Sabou and on June 10, 2020 she was arrested. On June 12, 2020, Mr. Issoufou’s lawyer, Me Yacouba Boulama, issued a press release. It stated that Ms. Sabou, via her publication, “established a close relationship between an economic operator” and Mr. Issoufou. Authorities charged Sabou with “defamation by a means of electronic communication” under Article 29 of Niger’s Cybercrime Law for her post, and for a comment made on the post by another Facebook user.
Sabou was detained for about two months while pregnant. The Tribunal hearing the case in the first instance dropped the charges against her. However, the Attorney General and Mr. Issoufou appealed, and the Court of Appeal overturned the first instance decision, sentencing her to two months of imprisonment and a fine of two million francs CFA (more than 3,300 USD). Ms. Sabou has now appealed to the Cour de Cassation.
This case is emblematic because it discusses the restrictions on the media imposed by the Niger government, particularly towards its critics. This is one of the many cases involving restricting the content journalists share, with some of them having already been decided in the government’s favor. The 2019 Cybercrime Law used in this case, violates the right to freedom of expression and, if the Cour de Cassation decides in Ms. Sabou’s favor, it might discuss the constitutionality of the Law.
Separately, on May 26, 2021, Ms. Sabou posted on her Facebook page a summary of a report published by the newspaper L’Evénement about drug trafficking in Niger. Niger’s Central Office for the Repression of Illicit Trafficking (OCRTIS) responded to the report saying that it contained “unfounded accusations.” On September 9, stemming from a complaint filed by OCRTIS, Ms. Sabou was charged under the Cybercrime Law, alongside Moussa Aksar, editor of L’Événement.
On January 3, 2022, Ms. Sabou was convicted yet again under the Cybercrime Law of “defamation by electronic communication”. She was given a suspended prison sentence of one month and fined 50,000 CFA (more than 80 USD). Mr. Aksar was also convicted. Both appealed the decision the next day.It should be noted that, in October 2021, the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights defenders and the Special Rapporteur for freedom of opinion and expression voiced their concern “about the charges against Ms. Sabou and Mr. Aksar, which appear to be directly related to the exercise of their right to freedom of expression”. Additionally, they highlighted their concerns regarding the articles of the Cybercrime Law that were used to indict the journalists, because they “are likely to have a chilling effect on the exercise of freedom of expression in Niger, and on the important work of journalists and human rights defenders in the country”.
The 2019 Cybercrime Law in Niger has been used to close civic space in Niger, particularly due to article 31, which criminalizes the ‘dissemination, production and making available to others of data that may disturb public order or threaten human dignity through an information system’. Since the Law came into force, activists have been arrested after criticizing the government via WhatsApp or Facebook. As a result, citizens are being suppressed for pointing out corruption allegations against government officials.
Another example is the arrest and conviction of journalist Kaka Touda Mamane Goni, after he published a post on social media about a suspected COVID-19 case at a hospital on March 4, 2020, two weeks before Nigerien authorities publicly confirmed the country’s first coronavirus case. He was found guilty of “dissemination of data likely to disturb public order” under the Cybercrime Law. He was given a three-month suspended sentence and ordered to pay a symbolic fine to the hospital.
- OMCT, Relaxe de Samira Sabou : un premier signal positif envoyé par le pouvoir judiciaire au Niger (20 July 2020)
- CPJ, Niger journalist Samira Sabou jailed, charged with cybercrime over Facebook post (12 June 2020)
- Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), Conviction of Samira Sabou and Moussa Aksar sets dangerous precedent for Niger (04 January 2022)
- Civicus, Two journalists charged under the Cybercrime law (29 October 2021)
- Article 19, Niger: Release journalist Samira Sabou unconditionally (11 June 2021)
- Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), Arrest of journalist Samira Sabou ‘illegal’ – RSF (18 June 2020)
- Front Line Defenders, Journalist Samira Sabou arrested and charged (12 June 2020)
- CPJ, Niger journalist Samira Sabou jailed, charged with cybercrime over Facebook post (12 June 2020)