N’Djamena, Feb 13, 2019 (AFP) – The publisher of a newspaper in Chad was given a six month suspended prison sentence on Wednesday after being convicted of defaming the brother of President Idriss Deby Itno, a court said.
Judicial proceedings were launched against Deli Nestor, publisher of “Eclairage”, after an article in June 2017 incriminated Itno’s brother, Daoussa Deby Itno, in the fraudulent importation of sugar from Sudan. The article described him as “one of the barons of fraud” — a claim Daoussa Deby Itno strongly denied.
“Dissatisfied with this article, Daoussa Deby filed a lawsuit against us for defamation,” Nestor told AFP. “We provided all the evidence of the fraud organised by Daoussa Deby,” he said.
The court ordered Nestor to pay 500,000 francs (750 euros) in damages and a fine of 50,000 francs.
In 2018, Chad ranked 123rd out of 180 in the World Press Freedom Index of the NGO Reporters Without Borders.
President Idriss Deby Itno is one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders. He took over the arid, impoverished nation in 1990 and won a disputed fifth term in April 2016 to lead the country of some 15 million people.
By AFP
