Niger

Moussa Kaka is freed on bail

Article published on the 2008-10-07 Latest update 2008-10-08 09:44 TU

Moussa Kaka leaves prison on 7 October
(Photo: AFP)

Moussa Kaka, RFI's correspondent in Niger, has been freed on bail, according to his lawyer, Fodi Boureima Mamadou. He was greeted by a group of 50 family, friends and colleagues when he emerged from prison, according to eyewitnesses. "We're pleased that he is out of prison, but we'd like to emphacise that he is an innocent man and should be freed unconditionally and should not be put on trial," said Imogen Lamb, an RFI staffer who is one of the founding members of the Free Moussa Kaka support committee.

"I have just come home. I arrived with my whole family, my friends … I am really moved, I couldn’t even speak," Kaka said after his release.

"You know, to be free after a year and 17 days, that’s a big thing, very emotional. Freedom has no price because after spending a year in a cell just for doing my job, I’m really moved … When I went through the prison’s seciruty barriers, I was just overwhelmed," he added.

Christine Ockrent, Director General of RFI, spoke after his release: "It's a great relief that Moussa Kaka has the power to freely breathe and be reunited with his family. It is the end of a very long judicial procedure."

"The charges that have accumulated against him, have been dropped. But new charges... have been spelled out," she told RFI in an interview.

"The judiciary system has done its job. it's not over with. We hope now that the climate that has improved between Niger and RFI will benefit Moussa in the comnig weeks," she said, referring to a recent trip she took to Niger.

Kaka was originally charged with "complicity and undermining the authority of the state" for being in contact with Tuareg rebels, a necessary part of his work as a journalist.

Kaka is to be tried on a lesser offence. Under this charge, if convicted, he could serve between one and five years in prison. He has already served a year in detention.