After more than two months in custody, a judge on Tuesday ordered the release of a famous anti-government critic and Senegalese journalist.
On November 6, Pape Ale Niang, the editor-in-chief of the online news source Dakar Matin, was detained and accused of “divulging material likely to impair national defence.”
Niang, who was well-known in Senegal for his frequent writings on current events, was released on December 14 but returned to custody a week later. Since then, he has been on a hunger strike in protest of his arrest.
As part of the interim release order, Niang was not allowed to leave the country and couldn’t say anything about the case, according to his lawyer Moussa Sarr.
He is still in the hospital, the lawyer said, adding that he was “very stretched” following a hunger fast he had started in opposition to his incarceration.
According to a local press outlet, the journalist has been at Dakar’s main hospital since December 24. There, physicians have expressed concern about his condition.
Cire Cledor Ly, one more of his attorneys, suggested that since the case was “political,” Diang should call off his hunger strike.
The solicitor stated, “He held out; it was incredibly difficult, but he was fighting for a cause, and he has won.”
After Niang wrote about Ousmane Sonko, the primary opposition figure in Senegal, being accused of rape, a case was brought against him.
Unions said that Niang might have told investigators about Sonko’s security plans so that they could question him about them.
The press, civil society organisations, and Senegal’s opposition all expressed outrage at his detention and demanded his release.
In a statement, the Coordination of Press Associations hailed the “success” of the release decision and demanded that the “fantasy and political allegations” that won him more than 60 days in prison be dropped.
In West Africa, Senegal has a solid reputation for openness and journalistic freedom; however, Reporters Without Borders claims that these characteristics are deteriorating.
Senegal dropped 24 places from its 2021 position to 73rd out of 180 nations in its 2022 Press Freedom Index.
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