Niger’s ‘mutineers’ To be tried

NIAMEY – More than 230 Niger soldiers implicated in a July 2002 mutiny in the landlocked west African state will shortly be brought to trial, government prosecutors said yesterday.

A military tribunal created by the Niger parliament in December 2002 shortly after the mutiny at garrisons in the southeastern city of Diffa and the capital Niamey “is now functional” and will “soon” begin trying the soldiers, said military prosecutor Lieutenant Colonel Amadou Diallo. Soldiers in Diffa, the hometown of President Mamadou Tandja, launched 10 days of riots on July 30, 2002, to demand an improvement in their living conditions.Local human rights groups have condemned the government decision to create the military tribunal, which they say continued to hound and arrest servicemen months after the insurrection.- Nampa-AFPSoldiers in Diffa, the hometown of President Mamadou Tandja, launched 10 days of riots on July 30, 2002, to demand an improvement in their living conditions.Local human rights groups have condemned the government decision to create the military tribunal, which they say continued to hound and arrest servicemen months after the insurrection.- Nampa-AFP