2023-06-12 02:40:15
Senegalese authorities ordered the suspension of Walf TV broadcasts for 30 days. This Sunday, official sources say that 79 citizens of Guinea-Conakry were expelled from Senegal for participating in the protests.
The Senegalese authorities ordered the suspension of Walf TV broadcasts for 30 days, until July 1, in a sanction imposed by the coverage of clashes between demonstrators and security forces, following the conviction of opponent Ousmane Sonko.
Television and press associations have already expressed their concern about the decision by the Ministry of Communication, which has been in force since June 1, although a station official said that the notification only arrived eight days later, European media reported.
The channel announced that a large part of its employees will be placed on technical unemployment. “It is a great economic loss because Wal Fadjri, before being a media group, is just a company, with fixed salaries”, argued the director of Walf TV, Moustapha Dio.
The Ministry of Communication denounces “the dissemination of violent images that expose minors, accompanied by subversive and hateful expressions that threaten the stability of the State”.
press freedom
This suspension raises concerns about press freedom. “In every country in the world, in every democracy in the world, when there is news, journalists show it”, underlined the media.
Also this Sunday (12.06), the news agencies advance that the Senegalese authorities expelled 79 citizens of Guinea-Conakry for their participation in the protests.
“As you know, demonstrations were banned in Senegal and, unfortunately, some people went further and there was violence. Buildings were destroyed, etc.”, said the Guinean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Morissanda Kouyaté, in statements to the local newspaper Actu Guinéé.
The minister indicated that some Guineans were arrested for participating in the aforementioned protests and that “the Senegalese Government had two options: take them to court or expel them”.
“Given our neighborhood relations, they chose to expel them,” he added. According to Kouyaté, the Guineans were expelled across the land border between Guinea-Conakry and Senegal by groups, one of 31 people (19 men and 12 women) and another of 48 (18 men, 18 women and 12 minors).
protests
The protests began on June 1st and lasted until June 5th in most neighborhoods of Dakar and in the main cities of Senegal, after it was announced that the leader of the opposition, Ousmane Sonko, was sentenced to two years in prison.
At least 16 people died in the demonstrations, according to the Senegalese Interior Ministry, while Amnesty International documented 23 deaths, including three minors.
Senegalese police said that 500 people were arrested during the protests and that those arrested included minors and foreigners.
Ousmane Sonko was tried on May 23, after being accused, in early 2021, by a young woman of “repeated rapes” and “death threats”. The leader was acquitted in court of these charges.
Tribunal
The court found him, however, guilty of the crime of solicitation of minors, which is applied when young people between the ages of 18 and 21 are abused, according to the Senegalese Penal Code.
The conviction could prevent the opposition leader from running in the presidential elections scheduled for February 2024.
Sonko denounced the “instrumentalization” of justice by Macky Sall, president of Senegal since 2012, with the aim of preventing him from participating in the elections.
Known for his “anti-system” speeches, the opposition leader criticizes bad governance, corruption and French neocolonialism, with many supporters among Senegalese youth.
#Senegal #Television #suspended #reporting #protests