Dakar – With a journalist convicted of “offending” the prime minister, commentators jailed and political opponents under pressure, freedom of expression in Senegal is being called into question under new leaders who accused their predecessors of the same failing.
Prosecutions for opinion-related offences in recent months have piled up, sparking mounting concerns over what critics and rights groups say are increasing curbs on freedom of speech.
In August, journalist Doudou Coulibaly was handed a three-month suspended sentence following remarks about Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko’s visit to Turkey and his relations with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Many Senegalese hoped for change when President Bassirou Diomaye Faye came to power in March 2024 after months of widespread discontent with outgoing Macky Sall’s leadership.
Released from prison less than two weeks before the election, Faye secured a majority in the first round of voting in a striking turnaround.
Hope for justice resurfaced following a period of anti-government protests between 2021 and 2024, which left dozens dead and hundreds injured.
Faye and his charismatic mentor Sonko, head of the Pastef party, promised to fight corruption at all levels and rebuild institutions.
The new government also pledged to tackle political repression and organised a justice forum in May last year, whose recommendations have yet to be implemented.
Approached twice by AFP for comment, a government spokesperson did not respond.
“There is a desire within Pastef to shrink public and democratic freedoms,” Hamidou Anne, a senior member of the former ruling party, told AFP.
Jailed journalists
Senegal is seen as a democratic haven in a restive region.
However, among recent cases, Senegalese political commentator Bachir Fofana was jailed for questioning the legality of a contract providing cars for MPs.
He was sentenced at the end of July for “spreading false information” and released after a month in detention.
At least two other journalists are currently imprisoned on the same charge.
One of them, Badara Gadiaga was arrested after a TV debate in which he referred to a sexual assault allegation filed against the prime minister while still in opposition. Sonko was ultimately convicted of “corrupting youth” in 2023.
Arrested in June, opposition figure Moustapha Diakhate spent 45 days in detention after calling the head of state a “buffoon”.
Pastef MP Guy Marius Sagna told AFP that there were “no restrictions on freedoms”.
“The problem is not why certain former officials and supporters of Macky Sall’s government have been jailed.
“The question is why there aren’t more of them given the economic, financial, social and environmental crimes under the former regime,” he said.
‘Keep a low profile’
Anne, of the former ruling party, said freedom of expression was under severe pressure because “the prime minister said he wanted to silence opposing voices of the opposition and political commentators”.
In parliament in July, Sonko was accused of harping on about his past as a persecuted opposition figure but appeared disinclined to engage in open debate with MPs.
“God knows why I am not president. If it were up to me, expression would be reduced to a minimum. Only those who shouldn’t speak out do, those who should remain silent and keep a low profile,” Sonko said, referring to the previous government.
Amnesty International’s head for Senegal Seydi Gassama acknowledged the “many issues related to freedom of expression” which he attributed to “old, highly repressive laws that need reform”.
Alassane Seck, president of the Senegalese League for Human Rights, questioned “the still exorbitant powers of the prosecutor”, which have led to numerous preventive detentions.
“We expected reforms to the penal code and criminal procedure code. But for political reasons, the situation remains unchanged,” Seck said.
Meanwhile, the recent appointment of two close allies of Sonko to the justice and interior ministries in a cabinet reshuffle earlier this month has only strengthened concerns among human rights defenders and the opposition.
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Source: AFP
