Hospitalised Niger journalist transferred to prison: colleagues

Niger authorities have transferred the jailed editor of a satirical weekly from his hospital bed in Niamey to the prison in the western town of Ouallam, several sources said Tuesday.

Abdoulaye Tiemogo, editor of Le Canard Dechaine, jailed mid-August, was taken on Monday to the Ouallam prison, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of capital Niamey, the president of the Association of Editors of Independent Media in Niger (ANEPI), Boubacar Diallo, told AFP.

"On Monday, some security agents ... invaded the Niamey hospital and took by force Tiemogo from his bed ... against the wishes of doctors," Diallo said.

Tiemogo, suffering from "acute malaria", had been in hospital since last August 23, he stated.

"The conditions under which he was whisked away from the hospital and taken to Ouallam could worsen his state of health," the president of the Network of Journalists for Human Rights, Abdourahamane Ousmane, told reporters on Tuesday.

Zeinabou, Tiemogo's wife, told AFP that a doctor told the security agents "that he still had some additional tests to do, but they ignored him."

Tiemogo was convicted of "casting discredit on a judicial ruling" following a comment he made on a private television on an international arrest warrant for exiled former prime minister Hama Amadou on corruption charges, said his lawyer, Marc Lebihan.

He has appealed the court ruling.

The United States has reportedly called for his freedom.

"We demand the release of Abdoulaye Tiemogo. In a democracy, respect for human rights, including freedom of association, expression and of the press should be in effect," Washington has said in a statement, according to broadcasts on Niger's private media.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international media rights watchdog, criticised the journalist's transfer to prison.

"Niger authorities have added cruelty to injustice. Tiemogo is not only innocent, he is ill and we demand that he be given the care that he needs," the group said in a statement.

For RSF, "this transfer to a provincial prison is a scandal, more so that it makes the journalist far from his family".