Niang, a reporter with the news website Kéwoulo and Facebook commentator, was arrested on May 16, 2023, amid a wave of protests over the prosecution of opposition politician Ousmane Sonko ahead of presidential elections in 2024. She is being held in pre-trial detention on charges of acts “likely to undermine public security, direct provocation of an unarmed gathering, and usurping the function of a journalist.” Niang twice went on hunger strike to protest her detention and prison conditions.
Niang, also known as Maty Sarr Niang, is a reporter covering local politics for privately owned Kéwoulo, the outlet’s director, Babacar Touré, told CPJ. She also shares news and commentary on her Facebook page, which as of late 2023 had some 31,000 followers before being taken offline, according to CPJ’s review.
On May 16, 2023, officers with Senegal’s Urban Security, a unit dedicated to judicial investigations, arrested Niang at her home in the capital city of Dakar, according to newsreports and her lawyer, Moussa Sarr, who spoke with CPJ.
On May 24, 2023, authorities charged Niang with “acts and maneuvers likely to undermine public security, direct provocation of an unarmed gathering, and usurping the function of a journalist,” according to Sarr. Under Senegal’s penal code, these charges are punishable by maximum sentences of five years, one year, and two years in prison respectively.
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