Niger journalist arrested for ‘collaborating’ with Boko Haram

A journalist and rights activist known for his
outspoken criticism of the humanitarian crisis in
southeastern Niger has been arrested for
"collaborating" with Boko Haram Islamists, the
interior minister said Wednesday. Human rights
watchdog Amnesty International condemned Moussa
Tchangari's arrest and called on Niger to release him.
A picture taken from a video distributed to
journalists in recent days through intermediaries and
obtained by AFP on March 5, 2013 reportedly shows
Abubakar Shekau (C), the suspected leader of
Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram,
flanked by six armed and hooded fighters in an
undisclosed place.
"This man has been collaborating with Boko Haram
for some time, and he is actively spreading
propaganda and false news in liaison with Boko
Haram," Interior Minister Hassoumi Massaoudou
told AFP. "All his propaganda aims to show… that
Niger's defence and security forces are the
criminals… (and) not Boko Haram."
Niger cannot "tolerate such an active collaboration
with terrorists", or such "systematic spreading of
false news", he added. Tchangari was arrested on
Monday and charged with "criminal links to the
terrorist group Boko Haram", he said. Tchangari's
organisation Alternative Espace Citoyen has been
critical of the humanitarian crisis in southeastern
Niger, where the army is fighting Boko Haram.
In early May, his group published a report that
criticised the Niger authorities after the evacuation of
some 25,000 Lake Chad residents over fears of new
Islamist attacks, following a deadly assault in late
April. At the time, Tchangari said thousands of men,
women, children and elderly Lake Chad residents
"walked for more than 50 kilometres (30 miles)" until
they reached safety.
"No preparations were in place to welcome… or
support them," he added. In early May, a UN source
said the evacuees were living in "dramatic"
conditions — without tents or shelter, and in some
cases without access to drinking water. In a
statement Tuesday, Amnesty International called on
Niger to free Tchangari "immediately", saying: "The
fight against Boko Haram must not serve as a pretext
to violate free speech."
The call for Lake Chad residents to evacuate came a
week after a cross-border assault by Nigerian-based
Boko Haram insurgents on the island of Karamga
that left at least 74 people dead. It was Niger's
heaviest loss since it joined a regional offensive
against the militants, whose six-year insurgency has
claimed some 13,000 lives and displaced about 1.5
million people

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