Senegal: Walf TV Channel Suspended for One Month

In Senegal, the Walf TV channel has been suspended for 30 days, until July 1. The Ministry of Communication criticizes the channel for covering the clashes between protesters and security forces after the sentencing of opponent Ousmane Sonko to two years in prison for corruption of young people. The channel's management and journalists' organizations are worried.

The broadcast had been suspended since Thursday, June 1, but according to the channel, the notification only arrived 8 days later. The Wal Fadjri group announced that a large part of its employees would be placed on technical unemployment  : "  This is, this is a big financial loss because Wal Fadjri , before being a press group, is a company full stop, with fixed salaries  ," warns  Moustapha Diop, director of Walf TV.

It was a decision by the Ministry of Communication, which denounced " the broadcasting of images of violence exposing minors, accompanied by subversive and hateful remarks undermining the stability of the State " that led to the suspension. On June 1, the channel covered the clashes between protesters and security forces after the sentencing of opponent Ousmane Sonko to two years in prison for "corruption of youth." In any case, this suspension raises concerns for freedom of the press in the country: "  In all countries in the world, in any case in all democracies in the world, when there are events, journalists show these events, they comment on them  ," he adds.