Mauritanian journalists in detention protest

Members of the journalists' union gathered to support Hanevy Ould Dehah, who runs the Taqadoumy website and is still in prison despite having completed a six-month jail sentence for indecency and violating Islamic laws.

The indecency charge covered a page on the site devoted to sex education and morality, Dehah's lawyer said.

Protesters called for President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz to release Dehah immediately, describing his continued imprisonment as "arbritary detention."

And opposition lawmakers said Monday that the president, by failing to intervene, was responsible for Dehah's failing health, the journalist has been on hunger strike since Friday.

Henevi Ould Dehah was arrested in June and in August jailed for six months and fined 30,000 ouguiays (€81, $115) for indecency, but acquitted of libel and incitement to rebellion. He had been due for release on December 17.

His conviction has been condemned by rights activists abroad, including media rights group Reporters Without Borders.

Dehah's Taqadoumy web site is part of the opposition to President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who came to power in an August 2008 and was then elected head of state in July 2009.

Source: AFP

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