JOURNALIST ACCUSES PRESIDENT WADE OF MURDER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 003208

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, AF/PDPA, DRL/PHD AND INR/AA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV SG
SUBJECT: JOURNALIST ACCUSES PRESIDENT WADE OF MURDER

REF: DAKAR 2756


1. (U) SUMMARY: In a recent book entitled "The Judge Seye
Affair: A Contract Killing," journalist Abdou Latif
Coulibaly accuses President Wade of instigating the
assassination of Supreme Court Judge Babacar Seye. Pape
Ibrahima Diakhate, Assane Diop and Cledor Sene, shot Judge
Seye on May 15, 1993. The three men were found guilty and
sentenced to 18-22 years in prison. Wade himself was
jailed for seven months during an investigation before
being released for lack of evidence. In an attempt to
close debate on this issue before the 2007 electoral
campaign, Wade's parliamentary majority passed in 2004 the
Ezzan Law, which amnestied all political crimes over the
past 25 years, including the Seye affair. Coulibaly's
book attempts to undermine the goal of the Ezzan Law. It
has rekindled the debate about political violence in
Senegal and has weakened Wade's moral authority. END
SUMMARY.

ONE OF THE MURDERERS BEARS HIS SOUL
--------------

2. (U) Abdou Latif Coulibaly's book is based largely on
the testimony of Diakhate, who indicated that the murder
weighed on his conscience. Diakhate gave details of the
execution, claiming President Wade (who at the time was
leader of the opposition),his wife and some members of
their entourage -- such as Samuel Sarr, current Director
of Senelec (Senegal's electricity company) -- ordered the
assassination. According to the book, Wade was greatly
disappointed by the results of the 1993 presidential
elections and, therefore, decided to focus his political
ambitions on legislative elections later that same year.
However, when the President of the Constitutional Council
quit and Minister of State Youssoupha Ndiaye was named to
replace him, Wade feared Ndiaye would squelch any
victories by Wade and his party. Consequently, he
allegedly told Diakhate and the others, "You must
assassinate him." Coulibaly reports in his book that Mrs.
Viviane Wade gave Diakhate and his associates the
equivalent of thousands of dollars prior to the
assassination to buy arms and rent a get-away car. After
determining that murdering Ndiaye was not logistically
feasible, they decided to "prove their loyalty" to Wade by
killing Ndiaye's deputy, Seye.


3. (U) After nine years in prison, Diakhate and the other
two murderers were freed following the Ezzan law's
adoption in 2004. Coulibaly writes that during their
imprisonment and even after their release, all three were
given large sums of money to maintain silence. Coulibaly
also indicated that the Ezzan law was orchestrated, at
least in part, to free the three men.


4. (U) After the book's publication, Diakhate gave a
radio interview, retracting his testimony and asserting
that he had lied to Coulibaly. Since then, some in the
media have openly questioned why all the criticism has
been directed at Coulibaly while overlooking Diakhate's
role in the book. As one local newspaper put it, "Did he
lie when confiding in Abdou Latif Coulibaly, or in
recanting his own account?"

WADE'S UNDERSTATED REACTION
--------------

5. (SBU) Wade has publicly stated that he will not seek
to have Coulibaly arrested, is not concerned by the
allegations and will not respond to them. That said, some
of Wade's associates who are accused in the book of being
complicit have indicated that they will sue the
journalist. There are already rumors that the book will
be banned in Senegal. One bookstore that sold a limited
number of copies of the book received a visit from customs
officers. An employee of the store told Embassy staff
that she did not know if they will have the book on sale
again. The GOS appears to be exerting pressure on
booksellers to prevent free distribution of the book in
Senegal. Unofficial versions are readily available on the
Internet, but Coulibaly says he only takes responsibility
for the accounts presented in the hardcopy edition
published by Harmattan press in Paris.

COULIBALY A PAWN?
--------------

6. (SBU) Wade confidants have asserted that Coulibaly is
the instrument of people who wish to tarnish Wade's image.
A close aide to Minister of Interior Ousmane Ngom told
Embassy staff that the Government is sure Coulibaly is
being manipulated because Harmattan agreed to publish the

DAKAR 00003208 002 OF 002


book only after a substantial order was placed. The aide
said Coulibaly lacks the financial resources to make such
an order. Several in Wade's entourage think former prime
minister Idrissa Seck, now opposed to Wade and in the
midst of a criminal trial, supplied information and
funding to Coulibaly to discredit Wade and accelerate the
end of his political career. Segments of the ruling
Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) and their allies are
already calling for Coulibaly's arrest.


7. (U) As Senegal's most notorious muckraking journalist
(on November 11 he received Transparency International's
"Integrity Award" for his investigative work on corruption
in Senegal),Coulibaly is no stranger to controversy. He
has close ties to the Sud Communications Group, a media
group under legal fire following its October 17 broadcast
(Sud FM) and printing (Sud Quotidien) of an interview by
Casamance separatist military leader Salif Sadio.
Coulibaly is a former Director of Sud FM and currently
Director of a private journalism school bankrolled by Sud
Communications. Sud's media outlets are among the most
brazen and vocal critics of President Wade's regime.

COMMENT
--------------

8. (SBU) COMMENT: Coulibaly's book marks a new episode in
the fierce battle between the PDS and its opponents. The
Ezzan Law, intended to defuse debate that could harm the
PDS, has started to backfire, as opposition figures and
journalists no longer hesitate to make serious allegations
against the President and his entourage. There is a
growing conviction that political battles will be won in
the media and the court of public opinion rather than in
courtrooms. END COMMENT.

JACKSON