Senegal

New York, September 12, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a Senegalese judge’s decision today to sentence a newspaper editor to three years in prison on criminal charges in connection with an editorial about President Abdoulaye Wade and his son. Today's ruling came on the heels of Thursday's sentencing of 12 individuals to several years in prison for ransacking two private newspapers last month.

In the Senegalese capital, Dakar, speculation surrounded Air Transport Minister Farba Senghor after unidentified men using a government vehicle ransacked the newsrooms of 24 Heures Chrono and L'As, two independent newspapers. The attacks came just three days after Senghor threatened unspecified retaliation against the papers over critical stories. CPJ issued an alert on Tuesday, calling attention the situation.

New York, August 19, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that a government vehicle was used to ransack the offices of two Senegalese independent newspapers on Sunday. The attacks came just three days after a top official threatened unspecified retaliation against the papers over critical stories.

A dozen unidentified men stormed the offices of the daily 24 Heures Chrono at about 8:30 p.m. Sunday and assaulted driver and production clerk Ablaye Dièye, the only staffer on the premises, Managing Editor El Malick Seck told CPJ. The assailants stole Dièye’s mobile phone and smashed about 10 computers before speeding away in a white Toyota L200 4x4 bearing an official “AD” (Administration) license plate, he said.

New York, August 19, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that a government vehicle was used to ransack the offices of two Senegalese independent newspapers on Sunday. The attacks came just three days after a top official threatened unspecified retaliation against the papers over critical stories.

A dozen unidentified men stormed the offices of the daily 24 Heures Chrono at about 8:30 p.m. Sunday and assaulted driver and production clerk Ablaye Dièye, the only staffer on the premises, Managing Editor El Malick Seck told CPJ. The assailants stole Dièye’s mobile phone and smashed about 10 computers before speeding away in a white Toyota L200 4x4 bearing an official “AD” (Administration) license plate, he said.

In Senegal, a fiery debate over press freedom has been pitting the independent press against the government in the aftermath of a brutal beating by police in June of two sports journalists after a soccer match.

The incident, which came amid a flurry of threats and violence against independent media, triggered  protests actions in Senegal, and recently in Chicago, and a news blackout as well as the formation of a local Committee for the Protection and Defense of Journalists. In a surprising twist however, authorities have accused the victims of triggering the incident by assaulting one of the policemen, a claim ridiculed by journalists. A senior judge is overseeing the case, but a larger national and international debate about Senegal's state of press freedom is taking shape.

Last week, the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) invited Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade to speak about global climate change at its annual Unity Convention in Chicago, dubbed "the world's largest gathering of journalists of color."

NABJ's description of Wade as "a leading spokesperson for democracy and development" hardly conceals his poor press freedom record since taking office in 2000. Wade, the octogenarian leader of Senegal who endured decades of repression as an opposition leader and an ally of the press, has since presided over more suppression of independent media than his predecessors.

June 26, 2008

His Excellency Abdoulaye Wade
President of the Republic of Senegal
c/o Embassy of the Republic of Senegal to the United States
2112 Wyoming Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20008

Via Facsimile: (202) 332-6315

Dear Mr. President,

Following the brutal beating of two Senegalese journalists by police after a soccer match on Saturday, we are writing to express our alarm at an increasing pattern of physical attacks and threats against independent journalists in the line of duty in recent weeks and months. Thorough, transparent police investigations or prosecutions of these abuses have seldom taken place. We are deeply concerned about an ongoing culture of impunity for crimes against journalists.

New York, May 22, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists today reiterated a call to Senegalese authorities to end a pattern of criminal defamation prosecutions against the press after a court in the capital, Dakar, sentenced a journalist on Tuesday to a suspended prison term on a charge of “publishing false news,” according to news reports and his lawyer.

Papa Moussa Guèye, director of the private daily L'Exclusif, based in the city of Rufisque, 24 miles (38 kilometers) east of Dakar, was the third Senegalese journalist handed a six-month suspended prison term within a week, according to CPJ research.

New York, May 15, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns criminal defamation convictions handed to two Senegalese journalists on Tuesday. The two were convicted for reporting on the contents of an anonymous letter critical of top security officials.

A criminal court in the capital, Dakar, sentenced Director Jules Diop and Editor-in-Chief Serigne Saliou Samb of private daily newspaper L'Observateur to six-month suspended prison sentences and 30 million CFA francs (US$72,000) in damages, defense lawyer Boubacar Cissé told CPJ. The ruling also ordered the journalists to publish the verdict in several newspapers. An appeal was immediately filed, Cissé said.

New York, March 31, 2008—Police in the Senegalese capital of Dakar assaulted a reporter who was covering a violent anti-government protest on Sunday, according to local journalists and news reports. They later raided the reporter’s station and confiscated footage.

Walf TV reporter Ousmane Mangane told CPJ that riot police used Tasers on him as he was attempting to interview an opposition member of parliament, Mously Diakhaté, on live television. Police spokesman Alioune Ndiaye said 24 arrests were made on Sunday after police dispersed the demonstration, which was led by consumer advocacy groups who were protesting against price hikes in food, fuel, and other basic staples.