French woman arrested in Comoros over anti-government video

A French-Comoran woman has been detained for a week in the Comoros over an online video criticising an ally of President Azali Assoumani, her lawyer said on Tuesday.

Mze Said Said Fatima, 54, was officially charged on Tuesday with disseminating false news, discrediting the institutions and damaging the image of an individual, the lawyer, Djamal El-dine Bacar, said.

"The charges, which are exaggerated, do not justify her being remanded in custody," Bacar told AFP.

Fatima has already spent seven days behind bars, more than the maximum 48 hours legally allowed before charges are pressed, after being detained in the capital, Moroni, on 23 July, he said.

Her detention followed a complaint lodged by the presidential delegate responsible for defence, Youssoufa Mohamed Ali.

Ali is close to Assoumani, a former military ruler who was re-elected president in January. The vote was followed by deadly protests.

The complaint centred on a video Fatima posted online after the disputed elections in which she criticises Ali, according to local media.

The mother-of-four who lives on the French island of Reunion is heard accusing him and the country's "dictatorship" of "atrocities".

"I'll be coming to the Comoros in July, and when I get there, I'll have to be arrested, but I'm not afraid of you," Fatima is heard saying.

Fatima is one of many Comorans living abroad who have contested Assoumani's re-election. Assoumani has long been accused of creeping authoritarianism.

The government told the newspaper Al-Watwan that it did not interfere in judicial matters.

The French embassy in Moroni said that it was exercising consular protection while respecting Comorian sovereignty.