NOUAKCHOTT, February 13, 2009 (MENASSAT) - After having fled Nouakchott in 2007, editor-in-chief of Al-Aqsa daily Arabic-language newspaper, Abdul Fattah Ould Abeidna found himself back in Mauritania, in a prison cell, to face his one-year sentence.

On February 11, 2008, an appeals court confirmed the one-year prison sentence imposed on Ould Abeidna,  for accusing businessman Mohamed Ould Bouammatou of drug trafficking.

According to the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)'s the court also set aside the initial 300 million Ouguiyas (approx. US$1.2 million) in damages awarded against the journalist, pending determination of befitting damages to Bouammatou.

MFWA said the court is expected to invite an expert to determine the amount by March 8.

On November 7, 2007, Ould Abeidna was sentenced to one year in prison, a fine of 50, 000 Ouguiyas (approx. US$200) and 300 million Ouguiyas in damages and interest. The journalist, who was out of the country, filed an appeal.

He was initially charged with "defamation" under the press law, but the Supreme Court changed it to "false accusation" under the criminal code.

In May 2007, Bouamatou laid a complaint against al-Aqsa, after the paper accused him, without proof, of being involved in an international cocaine scandal. 

Mauritanian journalists have reported that the articles attacking the businessman had been ordered and paid for by a clan rival seeking to discredit the businessman.

The forgotten prisoner

Abeidna was arrested and subsequently detained on May 24, 2007 under a court order and the journalist was granted bail four days later.

After Ould Abeidna was released, he escaped to Dubai, where he faced continuous arrests and investigations from Emirati authorities under the request of the Mauritanian government.  His passport was also confiscated.

On November 31, 2008, the Mauritanian government sent a high-ranking police convoy to bring Ould Abeidna back to prison in his country and he has been in Dar al-Naim prison for three months now. According to Al-Aqsa newspaper, the editor has been subject to torture, solitary confinement and has been banned from writing.

“Our colleague Ould Abeidna was put in solitary confinement on December 7th, 2008. He suffocated and almost died. Then he was placed in an open cell for a few hours full of bird excrement,” Al-Aqsa reported.

Defamation or revenge

According to Bou Amatto's lawyer and his supporters, the journalist is paying the price for his defamation.

Ould Abeidna, who strongly opposed the bloodless coup that ousted former President Mouawiya Ould al-Tayyeh in August 2005, and referred to him as the "legal" President in the newspaper, was already a target for governmental authorities.

The Interior Ministry sent him a number of notices for his political stance but his piece about Bouamatto was the final straw.

Ould Abeidna called the sentence "a political conspiracy" in a letter addressed to the General Prosecutor.

"Turning a publication case into a criminal one without any legal reason is in opposition to the constitution. It is a clear violation of freedom of speech and of the creation of an honest independent media.”

Continuous denouncement

Dozens of Mauritanian journalists, human rights organizations and media institutions have denounced the arrest of Ould Abeidna. His colleagues are demanding his release, or at least his right to "a fair trial."

Reporters Without Borders said in a statement,  “Abeidna’s imprisonment is disproportionate and counter-productive, and confirms the urgent need for a reform of Mauritania’s legislation that reflects a desire to handle press cases in a fairer and more effective way. This case should have been handled differently from the outset. The courts should not have been forced to bypass the media regulatory bodies.”

Journalist Mohammad Abdallah Ould Mamin, head of the Initiative to Defend Journalists which organized many activities to support the prisoner, said that the organization denounces the jailing of their colleague, making note of President General Mohammad Ould Abdul Aziz's contradiction when he said that no journalist would be jailed under his rule.

The case of the forgotten journalist remains one of the most prominent media case in Mauritania. 

Ould Abeidna is facing the longest sentence ever, as well as the largest fine, for a journalist in Mauritania.