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October 04, 2024 – Senegal –
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has issued a stark warning over the growing threats to press freedom in Senegal following a wave of arrests and physical attacks targeting journalists. Between September 30 and October 2, 2024, at least four media workers faced detention or assault in a troubling escalation of state and non-state hostility toward the press.
On September 30, journalist Kader Dia, a political commentator for Sen TV, was arrested by the cybercrime police after making televised remarks that allegedly insulted Senegalese police officers. He was held for three days before being released without charge. Just a day later, on October 1, prominent journalist Cheikh Yerim Seck, founder of the Yerim Post YouTube channel, was also arrested following criticism of the government’s budget allocations during an appearance on 7TV. He, too, was freed after three days, and the charges were dropped.
The repression wasn’t limited to state action. On October 2, two female journalists, Ngoné Diop and Maty Sarr Niang from the digital outlet Sans Limites, were verbally harassed and physically threatened by supporters of opposition leader Bougane Guèye Dany. The journalists were covering Dany’s summons to the cybercrime division when they were surrounded and targeted with insults and intimidation.
CPJ’s Africa program director Angela Quintal condemned both the arrests and the street-level assaults, calling on Senegalese authorities to ensure the safety and freedom of journalists. She urged the government to end the misuse of cybercrime and defamation laws as tools of repression and to hold perpetrators of violence against media workers accountable.
These incidents reflect a broader pattern of shrinking space for free expression in Senegal, a country once regarded as a model for media freedom in West Africa. The increasing reliance on vague legal provisions and public intimidation tactics is chilling critical journalism and eroding trust in democratic protections.
Unless urgent reforms are implemented and accountability ensured, CPJ warns that Senegal risks becoming a hostile environment for journalists—one where fear replaces freedom, and silence becomes the cost of truth.
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