Samira Sabou is provisionally released
On 11 October 2023, woman human rights defender and journalist Samira Sabou was provisionally released from prison. She was secretly held by the judicial police for 8 days, from 30 September to 7 October, at which point her whereabouts were finally disclosed. On 30 September 2023, woman human rights defender Samira Sabou was abducted from her mother’s house at around 5h30 PM by three unidentified man. The disappearance was reported to the judicial police the following day.
Samira Sabou is a woman human rights defender, journalist and blogger from Niger. She is the president of Association des Blogueurs pour une Citoyenneté Active (Association of Bloggers for Active Citizenship – ABCA), which organises awareness-raising campaigns, alongside other organisations, to promote the role of women in the public arena and guarantee their right to freedom of expression in the media. She is also the administrator of the information website Magazine d'Information sur le Développement Economique et Social (Economic and Social Development Information Magazine – MIDES).
On 11 October 2023, woman human rights defender and journalist Samira Sabou was provisionally released from prison. She was secretly held by the judicial police for 8 days, from 30 September to 7 October, at which point her whereabouts were finally disclosed. On 11 October 2023, Samira Sabou was brought before the judge on charges of supplying “intelligence to a foreign power” as well as “dissemination of data likely to disturb public order”. She was subsequently provisionally released, but not acquitted of the charges.
This follows information that Samira Sabou had been abducted from her mother’s house by three unidentified men on 30 September 2023. Despite her disappearance being reported to police, no official public communication had been issued by the authorities.
While Front Line Defenders welcomes the provisional release of Samira Sabou, it condemns the charges against her and urges the authorities in Niger to immediately and unconditionally drop all allegations against the woman human rights defender and journalist Samira Sabou as it is believed that these are solely motivated by her legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights.
On 30 September 2023, woman human rights defender Samira Sabou was abducted from her mother’s house at around 5h30 PM by three unidentified man. The disappearance was reported to the judicial police the following day. Her whereabouts are unknown to date.
Samira Sabou is a woman human rights defender, journalist and blogger from Niger. She is the president of Association des Blogueurs pour une Citoyenneté Active (Association of Bloggers for Active Citizenship – ABCA), which organises awareness-raising campaigns, alongside other organisations, to promote the role of women in the public arena and guarantee their right to freedom of expression in the media. She is also the administrator of the information website Magazine d'Information sur le Développement Economique et Social (Economic and Social Development Information Magazine – MIDES).
On 30 September 2023, at around 5h30 PM, the woman human rights defender Samira Sabou was abducted from her mother’s house by three unidentified man. The disappearance was reported the following day to the judicial police. The judicial police informed to the family and colleagues that Samira Sabou was not taken to the police and therefore, have not proceeded to conduct an investigation. Since the incident, no official communication has been issued by the authorities. Samira Sabou’s whereabouts are unknown to date and no contact was made regarding her current location or condition.
Samira Sabou has been consistently targeted as reprisal for her human rights work. Since 2020, the woman human rights defender Samira Sabou was subjected to intimidation, arbitrary detention and judicial harassment for defending and exercising the right to freedom of expression. On 3 January 2022, Samira Sabou was sentenced to one month suspended imprisonment and a fine. Back then, she was found guilty of “defamation” and “diffusing information to disrupt public order” under the 2019 Niger Cyber Crime law.
Front Line Defenders expresses its deep concern at the disappearance of Samira Sabou and believes it could be linked to her peaceful and legitimate activity in the defence of human rights. Front Line Defenders reiterates its concern regarding the impunity and the lack of protection of human rights defenders in Niger.
