Soldiers jailed for kidnapping and torturing a colleague

A military court in Niger has sentenced three soldiers to prison terms of up to five years for kidnapping and torturing an army major who served as the spokesman of a transitional military government in 1999. Announcing its verdict last Friday, the court sentenced a further 11 soldiers, who are still on the run, to nine years in prison in absentia for their part in the crime. A further two soldiers who appeared before the court were acquitted. The group kidnapped Major Djibrilla Hima, the former spokesman of a military government which held power from April to December 1999, on 10 June 2000, a few months after Niger's return to democracy. They tortured him at a secret hideout in the capital Niamey until he was located and released by security forces loyal to the government a day later. The prosecution indictment said the kidnappers were all close to former president Ibrahim Mainassara, who was assassinated in April 1999. It said they had kidnapped Major Hima to pressure the authorities into freeing about 100 soldiers who had been arrested following the election of the current head of state, Mamadou Tandja, in December 1999. Those convicted and jailed by the court were Major Samna Namata Boube, who was sentenced to five years in prison, Amadou Guirey, who received a two-year sentence, and Amadou Maiguizo, who was jailed for one year. Tanjda, a 67-year-old former army colonel, was re-elected for a second five-year term as president in December last year.