Amnesty International says the 23-year-old was arrested after police used her parents’ detention to force her to turn herself in
Amnesty International has condemned the arrest, detention and sentencing of Farida Isiak, a 23-year-old reporter with Nagarta Radio in Kaduna, calling the case a “vindictive” attack on press freedom.
A Sharia Court in Kawo, Kaduna, sentenced Isiak to four years in prison or a fine of ₦1.75 million on charges of defamation. The charges stemmed from a Facebook post in which she criticised police treatment of her parents. The rights group described the proceedings as a sham trial and said she was punished for trying to expose police abuses. According to Amnesty, officers under the command of the Divisional Police Officer of Mararaban Jos, Usman Adamu, took Isiak into custody at about 10:00 p.m. on Monday, 20 October.
The case began as a minor quarrel between Isiak’s mother and a neighbour over a ₦100 change dispute during a charcoal sale. Police reportedly arrested her mother first, then detained her father when he went to secure his wife’s release. Amnesty says the officers used the parents’ detention as leverage to compel Isiak to come to the station. When she arrived, officers accused her of defaming them through her Facebook post. Amnesty says she deleted the post and apologised, hoping it would free her parents, but police kept her in custody and took her to the Sharia Court in Kawo. The court’s sentence, the organisation said, ignored the police misconduct that led to the incident.
“The arrest, detention and hasty sentencing of Farida Isiak are a flagrant abuse of power by the police and weaponisation of the judicial system to silence free speech and intimidate journalists,” Amnesty said. It added that holding a citizen’s parents to force a journalist to surrender is unlawful and violates the rule of law, and that demanding accountability for police conduct is a constitutional right.
Amnesty called on the Kaduna State Police Command and Nigeria’s judicial authorities to release Isiak immediately, drop all charges and cancel the fine. It also urged the Nigeria Police Force to open a full, independent investigation into the officers involved in the unlawful detention of her family, and called on the authorities to stop using defamation charges to harass journalists and restrict press freedom.
