Niger’s Military Junta Detains Prominent Journalist Moussa Tchangari: Calls for His Immediate Release

December 04, 2025 – Niger –

Nigerian security forces forcibly arrested Moussa Tchangari, a respected journalist and human rights advocate serving as General Secretary of Alternative Espaces Citoyens (AEC), immediately upon his return from Abuja, Nigeria. Accompanied by others, plainclothes operatives surrounded his residence without presenting any warrant, seized his belongings, and took him to an undisclosed location.

Tchangari, a veteran activist with over two decades in journalism and civil society, had attended high-profile meetings in West Africa—including sessions in Abuja and Abidjan—focused on democracy and humanitarian crises. He also lectures on human rights at the Niamey Police Academy.

International watchdogs—including CDD-West Africa, WADEMOS, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and regional networks—swiftly denounced the arrest as arbitrary and politically motivated, calling it part of a broader crackdown following Niger’s July 2023 coup.

After nearly 48 hours of disappearance, authorities revealed on December 5 that Tchangari had been transferred to the Central Service for Combating Terrorism and Organized Transnational Crime in Niamey and later, Filingué prison—170 km away—on charges including affiliation with terrorist groups and undermining national defense. If convicted, he faces 5–10 years in prison, possible citizenship stripping, and destruction of his organization, AEC.

Civil society leaders, academics, media professionals, and NGOs—all signatories to CDD’s December 4 press release—have demanded Tchangari’s immediate release, calling for due process, cessation of intimidation, and restoration of democratic freedoms. WADEMOS, in its December 5 statement, further urged Niger’s transitional government to halt repression against human rights defenders and press actors.

Tchangari’s detention starkly illustrates Niger’s democratic regression under military rule. His case underscores the urgent need for international pressure to ensure the protection of journalists and human rights defenders and to uphold civic space in Niger and the broader Sahel region.

Reference – 

We Demand the Immediate Release of Moussa Tchangari, Journalist and Human Rights Defender