Dakar, February 14, 2024\u2014Senegalese authorities must identify and hold accountable police officers who attacked, harassed, and tear gassed or detained at least 25 journalists reporting on protests over the country\u2019s delayed poll and allow the press to report the news safely and without fear of intimidation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Police in Senegal should be working to protect the press, not attacking and throwing tear gas at journalists to prevent them from reporting on political demonstrations,\u201d said Angela Quintal, head of CPJ\u2019s Africa program, in New York. \u201cThe detention and beating of journalist Absa Hane is a particularly alarming indication of the lengths Senegalese police seem to be willing to go to stop news coverage they do not like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Senegalese security forces sought to quell protests<\/a> on February 9 over the postponement of the presidential election until December 15, CPJ documented at least six incidents in the capital, Dakar, in which at least 20 journalists were physically attacked, briefly detained, targeted with tear gas, or harassed in other ways by police: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Amar said that another officer also hit him with his fist and repeatedly insulted him at the same time, as seen in a video<\/a> recorded by a third reporter. The journalists said they were leaving the area as instructed by the police when the officers threw tear gas at them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A statement <\/a>by the Leral media group similarly described the police officer targeting journalists with tear gas and said the same officer also damaged a camera held by one of their reporters by grabbing and pulling out its microphone cable. The PressAfrik video<\/a> shows the police officer dropping the cable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n CPJ also documented incidents involving five other journalists in the days before: <\/p>\n\n\n\n In a separate February 9 incident, police officers fired tear gas into the Dakar courtyard of the Wal Fadjri media group\u2019s offices as its employees staged a sit-in to demand the restoration of the signal of its channel Walf TV, which was cut<\/a> on February 4, according to Ayoba Faye, a reporter with the media group and news<\/a> reports<\/a>. Walf TV resumed broadcasting on February 11, after the media group’s directors met the president, according to a Ministry of Communication statement<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Police spokesperson Mouhamed Gu\u00e8ye told CPJ that he was not in Dakar at the time of the incidents, but that consultations would soon be held with journalists to enable them and police agents to work \u201cin harmony.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n
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\r\nThis content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists<\/a> and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.
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