Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called on Senegal’s new president to take action to promote press freedom, following three years of arrests and violence against journalists.
RSF stated that the arrival of the new government provides “an opportunity to heal the wounded face of media in Senegal.” The watchdog’s report heavily criticized the previous administration under President Macky Sall.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye won the April elections on an anti-establishment platform after a period of crisis during which “the conditions of working as a journalist progressively worsened in a country long considered a bastion of press freedom in Africa,” according to RSF.
During this time, Senegal’s ranking on RSF’s world press freedom index dropped from 49th to 94th place.
RSF detailed the questioning or arrest of over 20 journalists since March 2021, numerous assaults on news professionals by security forces or individuals during protests, waves of cyber harassment, and the abusive closure of internet and social media access. The NGO emphasized the need for guaranteed editorial independence and better financial support for the media.
RSF called for systematic investigations and prosecutions of violence against journalists, and the removal of prison sentences for media organizations from the law.
The watchdog noted that charges of “spreading false news” or “offending” the head of state have often been used against journalists critical of the government. For instance, a court on Monday sentenced two men to three months in jail for “disinformation” after they accused Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko of allegedly tolerating homosexuality.
