suspended term of imprisonment and fined an amount of 300,000 Francs. They appealed against the decision and the Niamey Appeals’ Court freed them per order dated 9 September 2019. This goes to show the independence of our justice system. 103. Concerning the exercise of the right to demonstrate in the course of this year, five demonstration notices had been served as at 10 August – two were authorized and three were rejected. J. Right to the Freedom of Movement, Right to Leave a Country and the Right to Security: Articles 6 and 12 104. Articles 12, 16 and 32 of the Constitution have established the rights under Articles 6 and 12 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Today, Niger is still striving to respect the provisions of these Articles. Nevertheless, given that the current security situation is characterized by numerous attacks by armed groups in several parts of our country, some of these rights are restricted as a result of the application of measures linked to the state of emergency. 105. Anyone who is held in police custody during an investigation should be examined by a doctor at the end of the custody and prior to his arraignment before court. A criminal investigation officer who does not comply with this procedure will have his report annulled by the judge without prejudice to the possible disciplinary and/or criminal sanctions. Several annulments and sanctions have been ruled on by judges. 106. UEMOA Regulation No. 5 provides that anyone held in police custody is entitled to counsel as soon as he is arrested. The Bar, NHRC and judges regularly check custodial premises to find out whether all the legal provisions are being complied with. These include compliance with custody deadlines, right to a medical examination, right to counsel, prohibition of violence… 107. No one can be arrested without a warrant; where that happens, the victim is entitled to file a complaint for arbitrary detention against the person who agreed to detain him without a court warrant and the one who gave the unlawful order. 108. The length of pre-trial remand may not exceed six months renewable once for ordinary offences and 18 months for serious offences with the possibility of an extension for 12 months. For the most serious crimes, the duration is indefinite (e.g. murder, assassination, parricide, terrorism…). K. Right to Asylum and Choice of Residence: Article 12 109. Niger has constitutional and legislative provisions establishing the non-refoulement of asylum seekers, particularly where they are at risk of suffering bad treatment. Thus, mention can be made of Article 11 of the Constitution and Law No. 97-016 of 20 June 1997 on the status of refugees, Article 6 of which states that applicants and beneficiaries of Refugee Status may only be expelled, turned away or extradited from Niger on grounds of national security or public order. Paragraph 2 of the same Article states that “No refugee may be expelled, turned away or extradited to the borders of a country where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality or membership of a particular social group or political opinions.” 110. All persons living in the country, be they nationals or foreigners (particularly migrant workers and their family members), are entitled to protection by the law even if they are undocumented. 32