In a dramatic escalation of a high-profile investigation, Pape Birame Bigue Ndiaye, a journalist with the Senegalese Radio and Television Broadcasting (RTS), was arrested Tuesday while covering a press conference held by the public prosecutor.
Plainclothes gendarmes from the Keur Massar Research Brigade took Ndiaye into custody at the scene, moving him to the brigade’s headquarters in the Dakar suburbs.
The arrest is linked to a controversial ongoing case involving allegations of the intentional transmission of HIV/AIDS. According to reports from the daily newspaper Libération, Ndiaye faces several severe charges, including criminal conspiracy, endangering the lives of others, money laundering, and complicity in drug supply. Investigators reportedly conducted a search of his residence following the arrest.
The breakthrough in the case against the journalist appears to have stemmed from the forensic examination of mobile phones seized from other suspects previously remanded in custody by the Pikine-Guédiawaye court. Authorities have indicated that the investigation is still active and that further arrests are expected as telephone equipment and digital footprints continue to be analyzed.
DM/ac/fss/abj/APA