Chad - Denial of freedom of expression and imprisonment of unionists (2013)

The Union des Syndicats du Tchad (UST) wrote a petition criticising President Idriss Déby for corruption and impoverishing the population. François Djondang, Michel Barka and Younous Mahadjir were charged with defamation. Jean-Claude Nékim was also charged with defamation when he wrote about this incident in the N’Djaména BiHebdo newspaper. On 18 September 2012, the court of first instance condemned François Djondang, Michel Barka and Younous Mahadjir to 18 months imprisonment and a fine of 1.5 million CFA francs (2,290 EUR) for having committed a hate crime. While they plan to appeal this decision, the independence of the court has been put into question as its members were changed by a decree on 17 September 2012.

© ITUC-CSI-IGB 2013 | www.ituc-csi.org | Contact Design by Pixeleyes.be - maps: jVectorMap