Senegalese journalist Babacar Fall, the editor-in-chief of Radio Futurs Medias (RFM), was released on Wednesday after being held in police custody in Dakar.
However, his colleague, Maimouna Ndour Faye, director of the television station 7TV, remains in detention as part of the same ongoing investigation.
Both journalists were arrested following the broadcast of a controversial interview with Madiambal Diagne, a figure who is currently the subject of legal proceedings.
The arrests have drawn sharp condemnation from media watchdogs. The Council of Broadcasters and Publishers of Senegal (CDEPS) denounced the detentions as a “flagrant attack on press freedom.” The organization stressed that “giving a person a platform, regardless of their legal status, is not a crime.”
Similarly, the Union of Information and Communication Professionals of Senegal (SYNPICS) reaffirmed that “interviewing a person facing charges falls under the right to information, as long as it does not obstruct justice or incite violence.”
No official statement has yet been released regarding the specifics of the legal proceedings or the status of Maimouna Ndour Faye’s detention.
SS/te/Sf/fss/abj/APA