Niger Court Sentences Exiled Politician To 1 Year In Prison

Niger’s appeals court has sentenced an exiled former presidential candidate to one year in prison for child trafficking, the final ruling in a long-running case that his lawyers have dismissed as politically motivated. Hama Amadou, the main challenger to President Mahamadou Issoufou in the 2016 presidential election, has been living in France since last year when he left Niger for health reasons just days before a run-off. He has repeatedly denied charges that he and his wife were part of a plot, including several others, to falsely claim the parenthood of around 30 children from neighbouring Nigeria who were to be sold on to wealthy couples in Niger. The verdict was read in the absence of Amadou’s lawyers, who had boycotted the trial in protest.