DAKAR, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Senegalese authorities have arrested a third journalist in less than a month on charges of offending the head of state after he wrote an article blaming the government for price rises, his lawyer said on Wednesday.
Pape Amadou Gaye, publisher of the private daily Le Courrier du Jour, was charged on Tuesday with insulting President Abdoulaye Wade and threatening state security, his lawyer Cire Cledor Ly said.
Gaye was arrested on Nov. 1 after publishing an article blaming the government for price increases in staple goods and suggesting the army could force a change in policy.
"Those are political offences," Ly added. "But given the seriousness of the charges he may get up to 10 years jail."
"People are manipulating the crime of offence to the head of the state," he added.
Two other Senegalese journalists were detained on similar charges last month. Moussa Gueye, editor of the daily L'Exclusif, and another employee of the same paper, Pape Moussa Doukar, were arrested in early October after their paper ran an article about Wade's "nightime escapades".
The Africa director of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Gabriel Baglo, strongly criticised the arrests.
"I'm not talking about the content of the articles. But I have the impression that we're not in a democratic country where there is press freedom," Baglo told Reuters.
A fourth publisher, El Malick Seck, administrator of the online publication rewmi.com, was detained on Wednesday by security services, a source close to his publication said.
Long regarded as a bastion of stability in turbulent West Africa, Senegal has drawn criticism from rights groups in recent months for jailing journalists and some members of the opposition, which has accused Wade of adopting an increasingly authoritarian style. (Reporting by Diadie Ba, writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)
