A Dakar appeal court has upheld the three-year jail sentence passed on El Malick Seck, the editor of the Dakar-based daily 24 Heures Chrono, on September 12 last year for a vaguely-sourced report claiming the president and his son Karim were involved in money laundering in Côte d’Ivoire. Arrested on August 28, Seck was convicted of “disseminating false news.” The sentence was upheld on February 23.
“This regrettable ruling is very damaging for Senegal’s image,” Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) said. “By insisting on keeping Seck in prison, the Senegalese authorities have preferred punishment to justice.” RSF wrote to President Abdoulaye Wade on January 17 voicing concern about the judicial persecution of Seck and asking him to grant the editor a pardon. No reply was received to the letter.
