Newspaper director freed after nearly four months in prison

NIGER:

CASE UPDATE

FEBRUARY 6, 2008

Original Alert: October 11, 2007

Ibrahim Manzo Diallo, Aïr Info

IMPRISONED

An appeals court in the in the western city of Zinder provisionally released director Ibrahim Manzo Diallo of the bimonthly Aïr Info after nearly four months in prison, according to local journalists and news reports.

The ruling was prompted by an application for bail based on alleged insufficient evidence from the prosecution, defense lawyer Moussa Coulibaly told CPJ.

Diallo was detained on criminal conspiracy charges local journalists believed were linked to the critical coverage of his newspaper, the sole publication in the northern rebel hotbed town of Agadez.