During the April 27, 2022 Council of Ministers, the government of Niger adopted the bill amending and supplementing the law of July 3, 2019, on the repression of cybercrime in Niger.
This is a major advance in terms of press freedom rights in Niger. From now on, offenses committed through the press no longer lead to prison in Niger. “The ordinance of June 4, 2010, on the regime of freedom of the press has established the principle that no journalist can, in the exercise of his duties, be deprived of his freedom for offenses committed through the press,” reads the communiqué of the Council of Ministers issued on Wednesday evening.
This decision was welcomed by Mohamed Bazoum, who was elected head of the country last December. “With the changes relating to cybercrime yesterday in the Council of Ministers, the offenses of defamation and insult no longer lead to prison,” the Nigerien president said on Twitter.
As the Nigerien government put it, “the accelerated development of new information technologies and communication that have generated new forms of crime has required the intervention of the law of July 3, 2019, on the repression of cybercrime in Niger, which provides for penalties of deprivation of liberty,” the statement explains.
Thus, the new bill will harmonize “the provisions of both texts for the removal of the penalty of imprisonment incurred in case of offenses committed by a means of electronic communication including insult or defamation,” the statement added.
CD/fss/abj/APA