Provisional release of human rights defender Pape Alé Niang
On 14 December 2022, human rights defender Pape Alé Niang was provisionally released from prison after over a month of detention without trial. The human rights defender has been placed under judicial control accompanied by an obligation to appear before the judge once a month and an interdiction to leave the country. The charges against him are still pending.
On 2 December 2022, human rights defender Pape Alé Niang began a hunger strike to denounce his arbitrary arrest and detention at the Sebikotane prison. On 9 November 2022, human rights defender was charged with "disclosure of information likely to harm National Defence", "concealment of administrative and military documents" and "dissemination of false news likely to discredit public institutions". On 6 November 2022, Pape Alé Niang was arbitrarily arrested for the publication of an article on judicial proceedings against the main opposition leader.
Pape Alé Niang is a human rights defender and investigative journalist. The human rights defender is also the director of the information website Dakar Matin, and is known for this regular articles on Senegalese news – denouncing corruption, bad governance and defending civil and political rights.
On 14 December 2022, human rights defender Pape Alé Niang was provisionally released from prison after over a month of detention without trial. The human rights defender has been placed under judicial control accompanied by an obligation to appear before the judge once a month and an interdiction to leave the country. The charges against him are still pending.
Pape Alé Niang is a human rights defender and investigative journalist. He is also the director of the information website Dakar Matin. The human rights defender is known for his regular articles on Senegal news.
On 6 November 2022, human rights defender Pape Alé Niang was arbitrarily arrested and held in the premises of the Urban Security services in Dakar, before being transferred to the Sebikotane prison, located 41 km from Dakar, where he was arbitrarily detained.
On 9 November 2022, the human right defender was charged with "disclosure of information likely to harm National Defence", "concealment of administrative and military documents" and "dissemination of false news likely to discredit public institutions" Reportedly, the arrest is linked to the publication of the journalist in recent days on the accusation of rape against the primary Senegalese opponent Ousmane Sonko.
On 14 December 2022, human rights defender Pape Alé Niang was provisionally released from prison after over a month of detention without trial. The human rights defender has been placed under judicial control accompanied by an obligation to appear before the judge once a month and an interdiction to leave the country. The charges against him are still pending. Pape Alé Niang had been on hunger strike since 2 December 2022, when he also announced he would refuse medical care from prison medical services.
Front Line Defenders welcomes the release of human rights defender and journalist Pape Ale Niang but is seriously concerned by the deterioration of civic space in Senegal, especially press freedom. The organisation urges the authorities to drop all the pending charges against Pape Alé Niang, as it strongly believes that he is being targeted solely as a result of his human rights work.
On 2 December 2022, human rights defender Pape Alé Niang began a hunger strike to denounce his arbitrary arrest and detention at the Sebikotane prison. On 9 November 2022, human rights defender was charged with "disclosure of information likely to harm National Defence", "concealment of administrative and military documents" and "dissemination of false news likely to discredit public institutions". On 6 November 2022, Pape Alé Niang was arbitrarily arrested for the publication of an article on judicial proceedings against the main opposition leader.
Pape Alé Niang is a human rights defender and investigative journalist. The human rights defender is also the director of the information website Dakar Matin, and is known for this regular articles on Senegalese news – denouncing corruption, bad governance and defending civil and political rights.
On 2 December 2022, human rights defender Pape Alé Niang started a hunger strike, until further notice, to denounce his arbitrary arrest and detention at the Sebikotane prison. The human rights defender also announced that he will refuse any medical care from the prison medical services.
On 9 November 2022, the human right defender was charged by the prosecutor with "disclosure of information likely to harm National Defence", "concealment of administrative and military documents" and "dissemination of false news likely to discredit public institutions". Reportedly, the arrest is linked to the human rights defender’s publication on the accusation of rape against the primary Senegalese opponent Ousmane Sonko. No trial date has been scheduled. On 6 November 2022, the human rights defender was arbitrarily arrested and held in the premises of the Urban Security services in Dakar. Pape Alé Niang was then transferred the following day to the Sebikotane prison, located 41 km from Dakar, where he is still detained.
Front Line Defenders is seriously concerned by the deterioration of the civic space in Senegal, especially the freedom of the press. Front Line Defenders strongly condemns the detention of Pape Alé Niang and the charges brought against him, as it strongly believes that he is being targeted solely as a result of his human rights work.
