The latest news is coming to you from Human Right Watch:

Mauritanian authorities should free two bloggers arrested on March 22, 2019, and drop all charges related to their peaceful expression, Human Rights Watch said today. The bloggers, Abderrahmane Weddady and Cheikh Ould Jiddou, are known for writing critically about Mauritania’s leaders, including about specific allegations of wrongdoing by President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.

Prosecutorial authorities said on the day of the arrests that they were investigating people for knowingly disseminating false news. On March 27, a prosecutor in Nouakchott, the capital, accused Weddady and Ould Jiddou of defamation and a judge sent them to prison pending further hearings, said Brahim Ebaty, one of the men’s lawyers.

“This is clearly a case of shoot-the-messenger,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “A country that considers itself democratic should not send people to jail for publishing information in the public interest, no matter how disputed or contentious.”

See the full story at Human Right Watch.