Les Echos Newspaper Ransacked Over Report on Religious Leader

The newsroom of Les Echos, a Dakar-based daily newspaper, was violently attacked by individuals claiming allegiance to Serigne Moustapha Sy, a prominent leader of the Tidiane Sufi Muslim order. The attack followed a front-page report alleging that Sy had been hospitalized with COVID-19 at Dakar’s main hospital.

The newspaper’s editor, Mbaye Thiandoum, described the destruction:

“There’s just material damage. My office has been ransacked. Eight computers and a TV set have been destroyed.”

Thiandoum revealed that just before the attack, he had received a phone call from a supporter of Serigne Moustapha Sy who expressed outrage over the publication.