No, this video does not show the former finance minister crying after threats

2023-08-04 16:51:01

The video went viral on TikTok and on Facebook. We see a man bursting into tears behind a microphone, a mask under his chin. “Niger’s Minister of Finance burst into tears because the army gave him 48 hours to explain where the country’s money went or risk being executed by firing squad”, explain many French-speaking Internet users. or English speakers in legend. On July 26, soldiers overthrew elected president Mohamed Bazoum.

@laurorematin

This man is the finance minister of Niger ????????. The military gave him 48 hours after the coup to explain the country’s missing finances or face execution by firing squad. #niger #for you

♬ original sound – L’Aurore Matin

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FAKE OFF

Niger’s finance minister does not look like the man in the video. Since 2021 and until the July 26 coup, it was Ahmat Jihoud who occupied this post. There are no similarities between the two men.

The video is indeed old. She circulated since at least December 2021 on Facebook, as the watch TF1 news. We see Marou Amadou, the former Minister of Justice of Niger, who held this position from April 2011 until the election of President Mohamed Bazoum in April 2021.

On December 27, 2021, Marou Amadou gave a press conference for the launch of a think thank. In a report on this launch, Marou Amadou is seen wearing a mask and the same clothes as in the viral video. France 24 observers have had confirmation by a local journalist that the minister had wept after thanking former President Issoufou Mahamadou for appointing him to the post.

Thursday evening, Mohamed Bazoum, the overthrown president, called for help from the international community, warning of the “devastating consequences” of the coup.