Niger

Moussa Kaka starts ninth month in jail

Article published on the 2008-05-19 Latest update 2008-08-20 10:34 TU

Moussa Kaka in Niger in 2005.
DR

Moussa Kaka, RFI's French-service correspondent in Niger, starts his ninth month in jail, today. Accused of "complicity in a conspiracy against the authority of the state", he has been the focus of an international campaign to free him. Press freedom groups say that he has been jailed for doing his job.

The campaign to free Kaka received a setback last week when the Supreme Court ruled that telephone taps, which had been carried out by an unidentified government agency without a warrant, could be used as evidence and rejected a call for his release.

Following that ruling, his lawyers announced that he would no longer reply to judges' questions.

Kaka was taken into custody on 19 September last year.