Published on: 01/12/2023 – 07:35
Journalist Pape Alé Niang is now on bail in Senegal. At the head of the Dakar Matin site, known for its critical stance on power, he was first arrested on November 6 and had started a hunger strike to protest his detention. The press associations that support him continue to call for the “imaginative and political” charges against the journalist to be dropped. Is press freedom in the country at risk?
From our correspondent in Dakar,
This is a first “victory” for the Coordination of Press Associations (CAP), but “it’s not the end of the road.” If Pope Al Niang is free, he continues to face criminal prosecution, in particular for “publication of military documents that could harm the national defense” and “spreading false news”. Since the beginning of this case, his case has mobilized national and international press organizations, civil society leaders, political figures and even the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Mary Lawlor.
“No to Bullying”
Journalist Ouleymatou Diallo, who met her during a support rally in Dakar, confided in her her concerns: “It is a principled struggle to support our colleague Pape Alé Niang, to say no to intimidation. Because today it is him, but tomorrow it could be someone else. Up until now I have felt free to a certain extent, but today if I follow Pape Alé Niang’s path and choose investigative journalism, I think I am being threatened. “Of course Pape Alé Niang disturbs the power there, estimates Amadou Sabar Ba from the Convention of Young Reporters, we want freedom of the press in Senegal to be a non-negotiable matter. »
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What is Pape Alé Niang accused of? Prosecutors justified the charges with “repeated, unfounded and unacceptable attacks against the security forces” or “the disclosure of defense secrets”. The targeted releases, according to the journalist’s lawyers, included radio calls from police and firefighters about the security system ahead of the hearingOusmane Sonko In court in early November (the opponent is accused of repeated rapes by a massage parlor employee. He denounces a “conspiracy”). Other problematic content: statements against the supreme commander of the national gendarmerie.
“Freedom of the press is never threatened in this country”
For the authorities, this is in no way an obstacle to freedom of the press, which “Senegal has always guaranteed,” says Abdoul Aziz Diop, special adviser to President Macky Sall. “Freedom of the press is never threatened in this country. The profession is not goal-oriented at all; 24 titles appear every morning in Dakar, 24 titles! You can be an opinion journalist. No journalist in this country has ever worried because he has facts or even just commented on them.” But for Abdoul Aziz Diop “freedom of the press does not mean slanderous denunciation, it doesn’t mean spreading false reports, fake news. Freedom of the press does not mean attacking the defense and security forces. Only on proven facts that are just and true can we build general interest journalism. »
Tense political climate ahead of 2024 presidential election
Nevertheless, this case has revived the debate about freedom of the press in Senegal, which has died down Place 49 to 73 in the ranking of Reporters Without Borders in 2022. Especially since the political climate is tense in view of the presidential elections planned for February 2024, emphasizes Sadibou Marong, Africa Director of RSF. “In 2021, a media outlet was attacked by supporters of a religious leader. We have seen hordes of young people attacking newsrooms directly in March, we have also seen journalists being confronted at political meetings, be it by the opposition or the presidential movement. This is very concerning, especially since 2023 is a pre-election year. We hope that Pape Alé can find his family, focus on his health and later return to work. This is extremely important as it will help ease those tensions and that kind of dichotomy that we perceive when we talk about the media in Senegal, within the country, in Africa or anywhere else in the world. »
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Judicial information on the Pape Alé Niang case has been completed since January 5, according to his defense, suggesting that the judge will “probably” refer the case to the Criminal Court for trial.