Communiqué  Posté le 12:30 24-06-2022, modifié le 12:30 24-06-2022 par Tournons la Page

TLP-Niger demands an immediate end to the judicial harassment of Mahaman Moutari Djibo Gajani (alias Moctar), an active member of the Maradi regional coordination of Turn the Page.  

On Wednesday, May 25, 2022, during an exchange in a WhatsApp group, the activist alerted the mayor's office of the commune of Ourafane to the practice of diverting livestock feed.

Two days later, Mr. Djibo Gajani was summoned to the police station in Tessaoua on a complaint from the mayor of Ourafane, who was also a member of the WhatsApp group in question, and sued for defamation, even though the activist had not named anyone in his alert. He was immediately taken into custody and then, after being presented to a judge on May 30, transferred to the civil prison of Tessaoua. 

The activist was thus placed in prison for having carried out his work as a citizen watchdog by drawing the attention of the municipal authorities to the calamitous management of the city's resources. As a reminder, in the same locality, the population had, during a popular demonstration, set fire to the premises of the same town hall in 2020 for misappropriation of public funds. It was with a view to preventing this kind of outburst that Mr. Moutari wanted to draw attention in the discussion group.

The judge granted Mr. Djibo Gajani a provisional release. After a first postponement, his trial was postponed to June 28, 2022 in Tessaoua.

                                                                                                Maikoul ZODI
                                                                                                National coordinator of TLP Niger