Authorities Charge Senegalese Journalist Pape Alé Niang with Harming National Defense over Report on Leaked Document

Date of Occurrence

January 10, 2023
State/Country

Dakar, Senegal

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Description

On November 6, police arrested Niang, director of the privately owned website Dakarmatin, in the capital, Dakar. On November 9, a local prosecutor charged him with disclosure of information to harm the national defense, concealment of administrative and military documents, and dissemination of false information likely to discredit public institutions, according to one of his lawyers, Ciré Cldédor Ly, who spoke to CPJ by phone, and reports by local media and regional press freedom groups.

Ly said the charges relate to a November 3 video published by Dakarmatin in which Niang reported on the contents of an internal gendarmerie report that purportedly exonerated Ousmane Sonko, an opposition leader and 2024 presidential candidate charged with rape.

Niang faces a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and has been charged under Articles 64, 80, 255, 370, and 430 of the Senegalese penal code, Ly said.

Actions Taken

Senegalese journalist Pape Alé Niang was re-arrested, accused of breaching a bail condition.

Niang, director of the privately owned website Dakarmatin, was arrested in early November, criminally charged over a video report, and released on bail with various conditions on Wednesday, December 14.

On December 19, a judge ordered Niang’s be re-arrested and return to prison for allegedly violating one of his bail conditions, according to media reports and his lawyer, Ciré Clédor Ly, who spoke to CPJ on the phone. Ly told CPJ that authorities alleged the violation occurred when Niang discussed his ongoing prosecution during a Facebook Live broadcast on Saturday, December 17, which CPJ reviewed before it was taken offline.

Update: January 10, 2023

Detained Senegalese Journalist Pape Ale Niang Released for the Second Time

A judge in Dakar has ordered the release of prominent Senegalese journalist and government critic Pape Ale Niang, who was detained for the second time in two months.

On January 10, 2023, the judge ordered the release of the journalist subject to judicial control and other conditions, including prohibition from commenting on the substantive case in which he is being prosecuted on charges of false publication and undermining state security.

Niang, founder, and manager of the news website Dakar Matin, was arrested and detained on December 19, 2022, only five days after his release from the previous six weeks of detention. Niang was first arrested on November 6, 2022, and accused of publishing false and confidential military information.

The second arrest of the journalist followed his critical remarks about Senegal’s Inspector General of Police which prosecutors say violated the order not to comment on the case. However, one of the journalist’s lawyers, Moussa Sarr, told RFI that his client “did not mention the ongoing investigations,” insisting that “his outbursts had nothing to do with the current case.”

Though released, the journalist is yet to return home, as he is hospitalized, following a hunger strike that began on December 24 to protest his detention.

“He held out; it was very hard, but he was fighting for a principle, and he has won,” another of his lawyers, Cire Cledor Ly, told the press.

The media, civil society, and Senegal’s political opposition widely condemned Niang's detention. With financial support from the MFWA and moral support from our Board Chair, also based in Dakar, the professional media organisation, Coordination des Associations de Presse (CAP), set up the Comité pour la libération de Pape Ale Niang (Committee for the Release of Pape Niang). The Committee organised a series of demonstrations to condemn the journalist’s arrest and demand his freedom.