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Alert

Journalists in Kano State threatened with beatings

(RSF/IFEX) - In a letter to Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard expressed his concern about the announcement of a new law which introduces the sentence of beatings for journalists who publish information which violates sharia or Islamic law. "This bill, which is to be voted into law before 26 November, violates the Nigerian Constitution, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and People's Rights, ratified by Nigeria," added the organisation's secretary-general. RSF asked the governor not to add this law to the local assembly's agenda and to protect journalists' safety and press freedom in his state.




According to information collected by RSF, Kano State media reported as of mid-November 2000 that the regional government planned to pass a law sentencing journalists who publish information which is considered offensive to sharia to sixty lashes with a stick. The Kano government has not denied this information and other newspapers affirmed in mid-November that an eleven-member committee had been created to examine the bill prepared by the emir (Muslim chief) of Kano State. On 26 November, sharia is to be implemented in Kano State. In 2000, several federated states in northern Nigeria introduced sharia in their legislation, sparking an intense debate in the country.