First Independent Mena Newspaper
On Monday, November 10, 2025, Lebanese authorities released Hannibal Gadhafi, the son of late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, after he paid a reduced bail of $900,000, bringing an end to his decade-long detention. Gadhafi was accused of withholding information about the disappearance of prominent Lebanese Shiite cleric Moussa al-Sadr, who vanished during a visit to […]
Libya’s Attorney General has ordered the detention of Ali Al-Abed, the Acting Minister of Education and head of the national curriculum centre, over allegations of irregularities and negligence in school textbook contracts for the 2025/2026 academic year. Prosecutors reported that investigations revealed violations in procurement processes that undermined the public interest and compromised the right […]
African Union (AU) mediators have arrived in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, to try to urgently address rising tensions in the country and prevent a return to civil war. The arrival of the so-called “Council of the Wise” follows the recent house arrest of first vice president Riek Machar, a move that has deepened the political […]
Niger’s military junta, which took power in a coup in July 2023, has released around 50 individuals, including former government ministers and soldiers linked to past coup attempts, following recommendations from a national conference in February. Those freed include high-profile figures such as former oil minister Mahamane Sani Issoufou, ex-defense minister Kalla Moutari, and former […]
The campaign for Tunisia’s presidential election kicked off on Saturday, September 14, with the three candidates engaging in various activities like field visits, manifestos, and press conferences. However, the atmosphere is tense, as one of the contenders, Ayachi Zammel, has been imprisoned for allegedly falsifying sponsorships. Zammel, an industrialist with liberal leanings, is notably absent […]
On August 22, the Tunisian judiciary ordered the release of opposition politician Safi Saïd. Saïd, a former candidate in the 2014 and 2019 presidential elections who withdrew from this year’s race, had been arrested on August 20 for “illegally crossing the border into Algeria.” The 70-year-old writer and critic of the current Tunisian president was […]
Switzerland’s top criminal court on Wednesday (15 May) fund a former Gambian interior minister guilty of crimes against humanity over his role in repression committed by the West African country’s security forces under former dictator Yahya Jammeh. After four months of hearing, the Swiss court in Bellinzona sentenced Ousman Sonko, Gambia’s government minister from 2006 […]
Niger’s military court released Monday on bail Salem Mohamed, son of Niger’s deposed leader Mohamed Bazoum held since July 26 by a junta that has been running affairs in the West African country. The investigative judge of the court ordered Salem Mohamed released and instructed him to be available for justice in the event of […]
The High Court of Niamey has ordered the immediate release of Salem Mohamed, son of Mohamed Bazoum, the Nigerien President deposed on July 26 by a junta now controlling the country. The Court in a late last week ruling indicated that Salem is a victim of “assault”, “manifestly unlawful disturbance”. A junta known as the […]
Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of Tunisia’s largest political movement Ennahdah, has been sentenced to one-year in prison in absentia for promoting terrorism, one of his lawyers said Monday. Ghannouchi has been in detention since late April and indicted for 19 offenses including terrorism. Monia Bouali, one of Ghannouchi’s lawyers, told Reuters that his client has […]