The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Friday urged Nigerian authorities to release three journalists held in pre-trial detention for alleged cybercrimes and accused the government of using cybercrime laws to chill free speech.

Moussa Ngom, CPJ’s Francophone Africa representative, condemned the state action and argued that using “cybercrime laws for meaningless accusations provides further evidence of Nigerian authorities’ backsliding on press freedom.”

On November 3, an investigating judge charged six journalists, all of whom worked for privately owned news outlets, with the cybercrime of “disseminating data likely to disturb public order.” The charge carries a penalty of up to five years’ imprisonment. Three arrestees–Ibro Chaibou, Youssouf Sériba, and Oumarou Abou Kané–were i

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