In Senegal, several hundred journalists, civil society members and political party representatives demonstrated on Friday in Senegal’s capital to demand the release of a Senegalese journalist and government critic detained earlier this month.
The journalists union representatives marched along a boulevard near the Dakar city centre, chanting “Free Pape Ale Niang.”
According to Mamadou Oumar Ndiaye, a well-known figure in Dakar press circles, “We must continue the fight until Pape Ale Niang is freed.”
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Our reporter confirmed that, Niang, who runs the online news website “Dakar Matin” and has been critical of President Macky Sall’s government, was arrested on November 6.
The report also said he was charged and placed under a detention order on November 9.
However, his detention has sparked a wave of criticism from the press and civil society against the Senegalese president.
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For this, Senegal has been ranked 73rd out of 180 countries on this year’s World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders, down 24 places from last year.
