In Senegal, Freedoms Under Pressure A Year Ahead Of Elections

Dakar, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Mar, 2023 ) :After a prominent Senegalese journalist was arrested last year on charges of spreading false news, activist Beyna Gueye mounted a small protest, chanting to demand the journalist's release following a meeting with the prime minister.

He was arrested on the spot and sentenced to two months in prison. On the day of his release this week, another journalist was detained, also for "spreading false news".

The coincidence reinforces the view, held by rights defenders and President Macky Sall's opponents, that civil liberties in Senegal are coming under pressure in the run-up to the February 2024 presidential election.

They claim the government has cracked down on demonstrations, used coercive measures against the press, increased the number of arrests and abused the justice system.

The government refutes that there has been any regression and says the law is applied fairly in Senegal, which has a reputation for stability in a region where political turbulence is widespread.

Democracy has been under pressure across West Africa, with military juntas governing neighbours Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso.

Gueye, 24, told AFP he and two other members of a citizen's movement, led by the rapper Abdou Karim Gueye, were arrested in January after participating in a meeting with Prime Minister Amadou Ba about the alleged misuse of Covid-19 funds.

They were picked up after they left the meeting chanting, "Free Pape Ale Niang".

Niang, head of the news website Dakar Matin, is also known as a critic of the president. He was detained in November.