Daouda Diallo, President of Conseil Supérieur de la Communication (CSC), Niger’s media regulatory body, on June 29, 2009 banned Niamey-based independent Dounia TV and Radio station for broadcasting a statement calling on Mamadou Tandja to resign as President of the country.

According to the CSC President, the Dounia Group, operators of Dounia Radio and TV, flouted the CSC’s decision by allegedly “incitement of the security forces to revolt” against the authorities.

The ban followed a June 8 warning restricting privately-owned electronic media outlets from broadcasting live discussions on the prevailing political situation in the country.

President Tandja on June 29 declared a state of emergency after failing for the third time to get the court to extend his stay in power. A group, Front for the Defence of Democracy issued a statement to demand his resignation. The statement also called on the country’s security forces to disregard the President’s directive.

Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)’s correspondent reported that although the Nigerien media widely used the Front’s material, the Dounia Group was the only media outlet that the CSC singled out.

The correspondent said six of the eleven members of the CSC have distanced themselves from the CSC’s directive saying the decision was not a collective one but rather that of the commission’s president.

This is the latest of several suspensions imposed on the Dounia group by the CSC. In 2008, the media group were suspended by the CSC on the orders of Ablade Abouba, Minister of the Interior and National Security.

Meanwhile, the management of the media group has expressed its intention to contest the CSC’s high-handedness in court.

Prof. Kwame Karikari
Executive Director
MFWA
Accra
Tel: 233 21 24 24 70
Fax : 233 21 221084
Website : www.mediafound.org
Email: [email][email protected]