The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Friday urged Nigerien authorities to release three journalists held in pre-trial detention for alleged cybercrimes and accused the government of using cybercrime laws to chill free speech.

Moussa Ngom, CPJ’s Francophone Africa representative, condemned the state action and argued that using “cybercrime laws for meaningless accusations provides further evidence of Nigerien authorities’ backsliding on press freedom.”

On November 3, an investigating judge charged six journalists, all of whom worked for privately owned news outlets, with the cybercrime of “disseminating data likely to disturb public order.” The charge carries a penalty of up to five years’ imprisonment. Three arrestees—Ibro Chaibou, Youssouf Sériba and Oumarou Abou Kané—were imprisoned ahead of trial. The other three—Moussa Kaka, Souleymane Oumarou Brah and Abdoul Aziz Idé—were released without charge and placed under judicial supervision.

On October 29, Hamid Amadou N’gadé, former communications adviser to former President Mohamed Bazoum, posted an invitation on Facebook to a Solidarity Fund for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (FSSP) news conference. FSSP was established in 2023 to finance counterterrorism efforts. N’gadé revealed in the post that “the government was going to officially announce mandatory deductions on salaries and mobile money transfers.” One of the journalists received the invitation to the news conference and sent it to his colleague, who shared it electronically with three other journalists, forming a basis for the charges.

In July 2023, Abdourahamane Tchiani, the former presidential guard commander, overthrew then-President Bazoum in a coup. Tchiani was installed as the leader of Niger and is currently the president. In 2024, President Abdourahamane Tchiani raised sentences for cybercrimes, which have since been used as a tool to detain journalists. Human Rights Watch has accused the law of being purposefully vague to silence and prosecute journalists.

The UN General Assembly has previously expressed “grave concern” over cybercrime legislation used to target human rights defenders, obstruct their work, or endanger their safety. Seif Magango, a spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office, highlighted that nations should ensure that their cybercrime laws align with international human rights law, particularly the rights to freedom of opinion and expression under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which Niger is a state party.