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Niger opposition leader charged with corruption after protesting constitution

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] A Niger opposition leader who opposed a constitutional referendum to allow President Mamadou Tandja to remain in office said Monday that he had been charged with financial crimes. Mahamadou Issoufou, leader of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS), claims the corruption charges are politically motivated. The charges against Issoufou come after three former lawmakers and a parliament official were jailed last week for embezzlement and 30 former lawmakers were arrested for embezzlement earlier this month. Issoufou, who was barred from leaving the country last week, has been released on bail. The Niger opposition has pledged to oppose Tandja's new constitution. Among the constitutional changes is the abolition of a presidential two-term limit, allowing Tandja to remain in office for three more years and to run in any subsequent elections. The new constitution also allows the president to appoint one third of the members of a newly-created Senate, and establishes a media-monitoring position that would have the authority to jail reporters thought to present a threat to the country. In June, opposition leader Bazoum Mohamed of the PNDS accused Tandja of committing a coup d'etat by annulling the West African country's Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court ruled in May that plans to hold a referendum on allowing a third term were unconstitutional. Tandja responded to the ruling by dissolving parliament and assuming emergency powers.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on September 15, 2009 (boomark / email).