NIGERIEN JOURNALISTS JAILED FOR ALLEGEDLY PLOTTING AGAINST STATE

Two Nigerien journalists have been remanded for allegedly plotting against state authority. The two were among three reporters arrested in early May in the central city of Agadez. All three worked for Sahara FM, a privately owned radio station and were detained after airing reports suggesting that security agreements between Niger and Russia- an important ally of the military junta- had been terminated.

On Friday, the station’s owner told AFP that the two journalists had been sent to Kollo Prison, located approximately 50 kilometers south of the capital, Niamey, following a ruling by a military court judge. The third journalist was provisionally released and all three had been tried on charges of “undermining national defense and plotting against state authority”.

Reporters have regularly been detained since a junta seized power in a 2023 coup. Rights organizations and press freedom advocates have repeatedly condemned the ongoing crackdown. Niger was ranked 83rd out of 180 countries in the 2025 Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders(RSF), reflecting growing concerns about the shrinking space for independent journalism in the West African nation.