VZCZCXRO4512
PP RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #2122/01 3041641
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 311641Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9467
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 002122 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W, AF/RSA AND INR/AA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/31/2017 
TAGS:            
SUBJECT: SENEGALESE PRESIDENT IMPRISONS REPORTERS 
 
 
Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY CHARGE D,AFFAIRES JAY SMITH FOR REASONS 1. 
4 (B) AND (D) 
 
Summary 
----------- 
 
 1. (C) The Senegalese Police's Criminal Investigations 
Department (DCI) arrested Moussa Gueye, a journalist at the 
small Rufisque-based paper, "L'Exclusif" after they published 
an article entitled "The President,s Night Escapades."  The 
police made the arrest in an effort to identify who in the 
Presidential Palace had provided information to the paper but 
Gueye refused to reveal his sources despite being questioned 
for four days.  The paper,s owner, Moussa Doucar, has also 
been arrested and both await trial for causing "offense to 
the Head of State" and "compromising state security."  While 
some believe that this case underlines Wade's determination 
to set limits to journalists' feedoms and deprive his 
detractors of access to the media, other, many journalists 
included, elieve that the entire case is political in nature 
and not an issue of media freedom.  End Summary 
 
 2. (SBU) On October 8, Gueye was entrapped by DIC officer who 
had anonymously called him to offer him an advertising deal. 
Instead of making a deal, he found himself under arrest.  His 
computer was seized and the tires of the cars parked at the 
paper were punctured.  Both Gueye and Doucar are charged with 
"insulting the Head of State", "publishing false news", and 
"disturbing public order."  Under article 80, 254, and 255 of 
the Criminal Code, they may face up to five years in prison 
and a fine of up to three thousand dollars. 
 
Presidential Night Escapades? 
----------------------------- 
 
 3. (C) According to several Embassy sources, these night 
escapades were in fact visits by Wade and his Chief of 
Protocol, Pape Samba, Mboup, to Ms. Aminita Tall, former 
Cabinet Minister and the leading female figure in his party. 
However, the actual article in question does not contain 
specific information and seems to have been intended more to 
arouse speculation that inform. 
 
Who Tipped Off the Journalists? 
-------------------------------- 
 
 4. (C) President Wade's entourage believes that Mbaye Jacques 
Diop, the President of the Council of the Republic for 
Economic and Social Affairs (CRAES), manipulated the paper to 
produce this article in retaliation for his recent demotion. 
Diop is a senior politician from Rufisque where the paper is 
published.  Diop had been asked by Wade to resign from CRAES 
as it is rumored that Wade wants to nominate Tall to chair 
the body and since Wade cannot legally fire Diop he had a 
bill drafted to dissolve CRAES to get rid of him.  The bill, 
now heading to parliament, will recreate the same council so 
that Tall can be appointed at its head. 
 
Eliminating Checks and Balances 
------------------------------- 
 
 5. (C) Wade has full control over the legislative and 
judicial branches of Senegal.  So far, the media remains the 
only pole of resistance and dissent.  In a recent press 
conference, Wade told journalists that he had the means to 
"drown their voices" by creating 20 or 30 new pro-government 
dailies.  Yet, a couple of weeks later he invited media 
representatives from the country's eleven regions to his 
office and offered each a laptop and check of 6 million CFA 
(USD 12,000) to support regional media operations.  But, when 
it comes to stories relating to the succession, allegations 
of rampant corruption, accountability in business 
transactions within his office or his son, Wade always comes 
down hard against the media and he will not hesitate to use 
the police or courts to silence journalists.  In the case of 
Moussa Gueye, local officials from Rufisque have appealed to 
Wade for clemency, while local media have so far only 
expressed timid reactions. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
 6. (C) Since reelection in February, Wade has initiated a 
series of institutional changes to reinforce his personal 
authority.  This seems to be part of his strategy to 
orchestrate his own succession while appearing to preserve 
democratic competition.  So far, thanks to his charisma and 
continued support from the Mouride brotherhood, he has 
managed to impose his will and destabilize opponents in 
political parties and the labor unions.  These arrests are 
 
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part and parcel of this show of authority.  The media has not 
cried foul because the arrests are seen as a political 
problem.  That is, Wade is perceived to be silencing his 
political rivals rather than the media.  It remains to be 
seen whether he will succeed in overcoming the sole force 
that continues to resist his political domination-the media. 
SMITH