Tough times for the press in Senegal. There was this brief custody, on 14 July 2015, of the chief editor of the daily L’Observateur, Alioune Badara Fall, and his colleague, the journalist Mamadou Seck. Brought to court, they came back on 15 July. On the same day, the chief editor of the newspaper Quotidien, Mouhamed Guèye, was taken into custody and referred to the Office of the Public Prosecutor. As for the boss of the daily EnQuête, also editor of the information website Lignedirecte.sn, Mamoudou Wane (pictured), he was summoned to the Research unit of the Colobane Gendarmerie in Dakar. This is also where all the above mentioned were questioned.

Here, there are two cases being investigated. The first is the dispatch of Senegalese soldiers to Saudi Arabia to support the war in Yemen. The press is accused of divulging state secret. Hence the charges against the daily L’Obervateur which is part of the Futurs Médias Group belonging to the star Youssou Ndour. The newspaper is accused of going too far in the article published on 8 May 2014. The content mentioned the dispatch of over 2,000 Senegalese military to Saudi Arabia. A contingent of 4 troops of 2 combat sections labelled “Alpha” and “Bravo”. Units made up of one third reservists (retired for at least 5 years) and the rest being in active service. The newspaper then criticised the composition of this military contingent, especially the presence of reservists. The chief editor of L’Observateur and his journalist refused to reveal their sources; quoting Article 11 of the Senegal Journalists Charter. Military Justice did not stop there; and summoned Mamoudou Wane, boss of the the newspaper EnQuête et the information website Lignedirecte.sn. The website Lemondeafrique.fr reports that he is accused of broaching the subject of the postings of the soldiers in military areas.

The second case is which led to the arrest of the boss of the daily Quotidien, Mouhamed Guèye, kept in custody at Dakar central police station, to be brought before the Public Prosecutor on 16 July.

These arrests and hearings are strongly criticised. The Futurs Médias Group applauds “the patriotism” of its newspaper. There have been many statements by the National Union of Information and Communication Professionals of Senegal (Synpics). On the one hand, the statement of the Futurs Médias Group section of the Union. “The one and only goal of this expertly and insidiously planned terrible situation is to stifle the press. So that, henceforth, no more journalist would talk about the Senegalese Army and the way it is managed”, the communiqué reads. Hence the plea to the President of the Republic, Macky Sall, to “stop this escalation and adhere to a dynamic of dialogue between leaders”.

On the other hand, the Synpics summit has reacted and talks of a “fuite en avant” by the Senegalese authorities, which “can only produce worse results, a monster we thought our democracy had definitely done away with and by which the press, should it come to that, will not be defeated”, indicated the release. The secretary of the union, Ibrahima Khaliloulah Ndiaye, concludes: “They are trying to create a climate of terror, but journalists will not back down”. A sign that in Senegal, the press and the power are now at daggers drawn.