N’Djamena – Four Chadian journalists, three of whom have been in prison since March, were found not guilty on Tuesday by the N’Djamena high court on charges of “conspiring” with Russia’s Wagner Group.
The public prosecutor last Wednesday had requested two years imprisonment for the four defendants.
They were suspected of having provided “information relating to the country’s security and economy” and of “having worked with the Russian paramilitary group Wagner”, the public prosecutor, Oumar Mahamat Kedelaye, said in a statement, referring to the existence of “incriminating documents” obtained after a “denunciation”.
𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗘 ⚖️ | Le journaliste Monodji Mbaindiguim Olivier et ses co-accusés ont été déclarés non coupables des faits qui leur étaient reprochés. Après trois audiences, la Chambre spéciale a prononcé son verdict ce 8 juillet 2025, ordonnant leur acquittement. #𝗧𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗱 pic.twitter.com/z9JdPsp358
— News Afrique Monde (@News_Afrique_) July 8, 2025
Alain Ndilyam, spokesman for the defence lawyers, told AFP that “we are delighted that our clients have regained their freedom, because some of them have been unjustly detained in the prison for more than four months, despite their status as journalists.”
The accused included Olivier Monodji, a director of local weekly Le Pays and a correspondent for Radio France Internationale; Ndilyam Guekidata, another editor at Le Pays; and Mahamat Saleh Alhissein, a reporter at Tele Chad.
The three were arrested and jailed in March, while Ahmat Ali Adji from Toumai Web Media was later accused but not detained.
