Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal News Blogs -> JURIST - The Paper Chase

Legal News

: JURIST - The Paper Chase

Niger president held hostage in apparent coup attempt

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

[JURIST] Niger President Mamadou Tandja was taken hostage on Thursday in an apparent coup attempt by dissident army officials, leaving at least three Nigerien soldiers dead. The opposition forces invaded the presidential palace with machine guns during a meeting of government ministers and kidnapped Tandja along with half of his cabinet. The attack comes six months after a referendum was passed abolishing presidential term limits and allowing Tandja to remain in office for three more years and to run in any subsequent elections. Niger's opposition parties denounced the referendum, claiming that Tandja inflated poll numbers to support the new constitution's adoption. The international community also responded to the supposedly invalid referendum by freezing non-humanitarian aid from Western countries and suspending Niger from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The coup has been condemned by both ECOWAS and the African Union (AU). Several opposition leader were arrested after the parties pledged to oppose Tandja's new constitution, which also allowed the president to appoint one third of the members of a newly-created senate, and establish a media-monitoring position that would have the authority to jail reporters thought to present a threat to the country. In September, members of the opposition parties said that police had detained 30 former opposition lawmakers, allegedly at the behest of Tandja. The 30 former members of parliament were arrested on charges of embezzlement, but were likely being targeted for their dissidence, as they refused to recognize Tandja's expansion of powers. One week later, Nigerien opposition leader of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS), Mahamadou Issoufou, was charged with financial crimes. The PNDS claimed the corruption charges were politically motivated. Issoufou, who is barred from leaving the country, has been released on bail. Niger, which is known for its exportation of uranium, has gone through five constitutions and military regimes since its founding in 1960.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on February 18, 2010 (boomark / email).