The Government press regulation body, the High Council for Communication (CSC) closed Niamey based TV and radio stations of Dounia TV for one month in August 2008, and closed for an indefinite period Sahara FM, the main radio station in Agadez on 22 April 2008 for broadcasting interviews with people who had claimed they were the victims of abuses by government troops.
Earlier in 2009, the CSC warned that Dounia TV could be closed for showing film of Nigerien Police forcefully dispersing supporters of jailed former Prime Minister of Niger Hama Amadou during a Niamey protest.
[7] Reporters Without Borders claimed in a statement following the March 31 arrests that "The Dounia group is the victim of repeated harassment by the judicial authorities".
[3] After President Tandja declared emergency rule on 27 June, during the 2009 Nigerien constitutional crisis, Dounia was the first media outlet closed by the government.
[8] On 1 July, a press NGO statement claimed that six of the eleven CSC board members had signed a protest letter over both the closing, and the way in which the decision was taken.