Senegal arrests two journalists, briefly takes two TV channels off the air

Maïmouna Ndour Faye, the director-general of privately-owned 7TV, was arrested by gendarmes on the evening of 28 October while 7TVwas broadcasting an interview with Madiambal Diagne, a businessman critical of the government and currently subject to an international arrest warrant. She was taken to Ouakam gendarmerie in Dakar on charges of "undermining state security and undermining the authority of the judiciary." The channel's signal was cut for several hours on digital terrestrial television and Canal+.

The National Broadcasting Regulatory Council (CNRA), the only body authorised to take media off the air, has not publicly commented on the measures and its president, Mamadou Oumar Ndiaye, did not respond to requests for comment from RSF.

A few hours later, on the morning of 29 October, Babacar Fall, the editor-in-chief of Radio Futurs Médias (RFM), was handcuffed at his radio station and taken to a police station. He had just finished an interview with Diagne. Journalist Cheikh Tidiane Diagneand technician Abdou Thiam were also arrested but were released shortly thereafter. The signal of Télé Futurs Médias, a TV channel belonging to the same media group, was briefly cut off that morning, according to a statement from the media group.

When contacted by RSF, a government source pointed out that the Diagne case is under investigation and cited Article 5 of Senegal's Press Code, which says: "Journalists and media technicians have the right to free access to all sources of information [...] subject to respect for the [...] confidentiality of investigations and legal proceedings [...]."

The source also said: "The actions of the journalists involved, who expressly want to give a platform to an individual subject to an international arrest warrant, could discredit the judicial authorities." And this was potentially a criminal offence, he added.

Shortly before travelling to France at the end of September, despite being banned from leaving Senegal, Diagne was summoned for questioning by the Criminal Investigation Division (DIC) in an investigation into alleged suspicious financial transactions. Now the subject of an international arrest warrantissued by Senegal, he was briefly detained and questioned by the French authorities and then then released under judicial control.