Three journalists remanded in Chad for collusion with Russia

Three journalists have been remanded in custody pending trial in Chad after being accused of colluding with a Russian paramilitary group, the public prosecutor and one of their lawyers said Monday.

“They are suspected of working with the Russian paramilitary group Wagner,” public prosecutor Omar Mahamat Kedelaye told AFP.

One of their lawyers, Allahtaroum Amos, said the journalists had been “charged with espionage for the enemy, attacking institutions and conspiracy”.

The public prosecutor said the journalists were Olivier Mbaindinguim Monodji, director of the weekly newspaper “Le Pays” and Chadian correspondent for Radio France Internationale (RFI), and another editor from “Le Pays”, Ndilyam Guekidata.

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The third was a journalist from Tele Tchad, Mahamat Saleh Alhissein.

He said they had been arrested following an “allegation” supported by documents which showed the journalists “provide information related to the security and economy of our country”, with their actions “constituting intelligence offences likely to harm Chad’s military or diplomatic situation or its economic interests”.

The allegations amounted to “plotting against the state and complicity”, he added.

The three journalists were remanded to the Klessoum prison on Monday afternoon after being questioned by the examining magistrate. They will appear in court on Thursday.

Tele Tchad’s management told AFP Sunday that its reporter had been accused of translating documents supplied by Russia, on the topic of the operations of its auxiliaries in Mali and on the economic situation in the Sahel.

According to other sources, the director of “Le Pays” was arrested for an article on the inauguration of the Russian House cultural centre in Chad’s capital of N’Djamena in September.

In recent months, journalists, politicians and opposition figures have been arrested or kidnapped in a bid to suppress voices critical of Chad’s military leader Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno.

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In mid-September, the World Organization Against Torture denounced the Chadian intelligence service’s increasing use of arrests and detentions without due process.

After coming to power following the death of his father three years ago, Deby has strengthened his hold on Chad in a series of elections denounced by the opposition as neither free nor fair.

Like other military leaders in the Sahel, he has moved the country away from former colonial ruler France and instead forged ties with Russia, which has been expanding its influence in Africa.

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Moscow has sent mercenaries from the Wagner group to several countries in the jihadist-beset Sahel region, including Mali and the Central African Republic bordering Chad.

In mid-September, three Russians, one of them known for his links with the late Wagner Group boss Evgeny Prigozhin, were arrested on arrival in Chad and subsequently detained for around five weeks, with no explanation given by the Russian or Chadian authorities.