[cdn_abolition] French journalists face death sentence in Niger

[Mark and Heather Warren]

FYI; petition posted at:
http://pierre.thomas.alhassane.info/petition/

m.


    French journalists on trial in Niger face death sentence


The Independent 10/01/2008
Two French journalists arrested in Niger in west Africa face a possible 
death sentence when they go on trial next week. The pair, working for 
the Franco-German television channel, Arte, are accused by the Niger 
authorities of visiting Tuareg rebels in the north of the country 
without permission - a charge punishable by death.

The French newspaper, Libération, complained yesterday that the French 
government's response to their arrest had been muted. It made a 
comparison with the personal intervention of President Nicolas Sarkozy 
to free three journalists arrested in Chad in November while covering a 
failed attempt by a French charity to smuggle orphans out of the country.

Diplomatic relations between France and Niger, a former colony, are said 
to be deeply strained. Last Thursday, an appeal for clemency was made by 
France to Niger's government, calling on it to release the two 
journalists who were, "fulfilling their duty to inform the public".

On Tuesday, several relatives and colleagues of the two men made a 
direct appeal to Niger's President, Mamadou Tandja, in a letter 
published in the newspaper Le Monde.

Thomas Dandois, a reporter, and Pierre Creisson, a cameraman, were 
arrested on 17 December. They are charged with, "involvement with armed 
gangs", by whom the authorities mean the Tuareg separatist rebels who 
have been active in the north of the country since last February.

By Emily Murphy in Paris
Source : The Independent 
<http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article3324442.ece>