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afrol News, 4 December - The new Finance Law to be introduced in Niger reportedly raises taxes of private media companies to such a high level that it will threaten press freedom, media analysts say. The French media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) in a statement issued yesterday says it "seeks clarification further to adoption of law that threatens private press's continued existence." To mark the strike launched by senior management of the private press on 3 December 2001 in Niamey, RSF asked National Assembly Speaker Mahamane Ousmane to clarify the motive for the introduction of the Finance Law 2002, which was adopted on first reading on 20 November. - This law raises private press companies' taxes exponentially, stated Robert Ménard, the organisation's secretary-general. "We fear that it will lead to the de facto disappearance of many press titles, which are already quite fragile." - We also hope that this new finance law does not represent a new instrument to censor the country's press, added Ménard. RSF says it is "concerned about the law's very serious consequences on pluralism of the press in Niger." Finally, the organisation recalled that one journalist remains incarcerated in Niger. According to information collected by RSF, the Finance Law 2002, adopted on 20 November, modifies the tax system applicable to press companies. Since 1999, press organs have only been subject to an annual licence fee of 160,000 to 200,000 CFA Francs (US$ 217 to 271; 244 to 305 Euros). In addition to this annual licence fee, press companies will now also have to pay the Industrial and Commercial Profit Tax (or, for those companies that only make small profits, the Minimal Fiscal Tax), the Value-added Tax and an initiation tax based on wage bills. Owners of press offices will also have to pay a land tax. Furthermore, press companies will henceforth have to hire an accounting service and file an annual statement of accounts. On 3 December, private media directors launched a strike to protest the introduction of these new measures. No private newspapers will publish until 7 December, and radio stations have planned a "day of silence" for 8 December. Though the National Assembly has expressed its desire "to widen the tax base," in a joint press release, press owners denounced the new measures as an attempt to "reduce independent media outlets to silence."
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