SUD FM AFFAIR: SIX JOURNALISTS ACQUITTED, REBEL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 000086

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

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

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KPAO SG
SUBJECT: SUD FM AFFAIR: SIX JOURNALISTS ACQUITTED, REBEL
LEADER SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS

REF: A. DAKAR 0082


B. 05 DAKAR 2659 (NOTAL)


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Six journalists from the Sud
Communications Group were acquitted on January 6 of
charges of complicity in endangering Senegal's territorial
integrity. In a volte-face, the prosecution joined the
defense in requesting that all charges against the
journalists be dropped. Movement of Democratic Forces of
the Casamance (MFDC) military leader Salif Sadio, who
faced the same charge due to an inflammatory interview
aired and published by Sud FM/Sud Quotidien in October
2005, was sentenced to a five-year prison term and a fine
of $1,870. An arrest warrant was issued for Sadio, who
did not appear in court. Media coverage of the verdicts
was extensive but short-lived, an indication that local
media seek to put this case behind them and build on its
tentative rapprochement with the government. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) At the end of a three-hour trial in Dakar on
January 6, a judge threw out all charges against Sud
Communications Group President Babacar Toure, Sud FM
General Director Oumar Diouf Fall, newspaper Sud Quotidien
Director Abdoulaye Ndiaga Sylla, Sud FM-Ziguinchor Bureau
Chief Ibrahima Gassama, Sud FM Chief Editor Ndeye Fatou
Mborika Sy, and Sud Quotidien Coordinator Madior Fall. In
a surprising turn of events, State Prosecutor Lansana
Diabe joined the defense in asking that they be acquitted
of charges of endangering national security for
disseminating an interview with MFDC military leader Salif
Sadio. An arrest warrant was issued for Sadio, who was
sentenced in absentia to a five-year prison term and a
fine of $1,870.

DEFENDANTS ARTICULATE, UNREPENTANT
--------------

3. (U) During the trial, the defendants explained that as
professional journalists, they had only carried out their
obligation to make information available to the public.
Ibrahima Gassama, who conducted the interview in Guinea-
Bissau on October 13, said his work served to inform the
people of Senegal that Sadio was still alive. (NOTE: For
years, persistent rumors had surmised his death. END
NOTE.) Gassama, who hosts a radio show in the Casamance
capital of Ziguinchor called "Room for Peace," said he
wanted to give a voice to an influential member of the
MFDC that has been marginalized. During her testimony,
Sud FM Chief Editor Sy commented, "I regret that a country
like Senegal brings journalists to court to face such
accusations...Given the chance, we would all do it again."

MEDIA REACTION A MIX OF RELIEF AND CONCERN
--------------

4. (U) The verdict was widely welcomed by local media,
many of which had vociferously protested the government's
temporary shutdown of all Sud FM stations, confiscation of
Sud Quotidien editions and interrogation of Sud employees
after the interview was aired and published on October 17,
2005 (Ref B). The January 7-8 edition of Sud Quotidien
opined, "In securing an interview with this rebel, our
colleague [Gassama] did nothing more than his job: to seek
out information, verify it and place it in the arena of
public opinion. ... Information is meaningless unless it
is shared. It comes to life in the reader and does not
belong to the journalist."


5. (U) The national daily Le Matin editorialized, "The
arrest of journalists and the closure of their offices
were unjustified and acts against freedom of expression.
In addition, the verdict creates more problems than it
resolved. ... Sadio's conviction has thrown up an
obstacle to the MFDC's reunification ... and distances the
rebel leader from the Foundiougne II talks, contrary to
[MFDC President] Abbot Diamacoune's stated wish to bring
Sadio into the peace process." Sud Quotidien criticized
as "inconsistent" the ruling against Sadio and echoed that
the judge's decision "effectively drives Sadio away from
participation in the peace process."


6. (U) Only one newspaper advocated a counter-offensive
against the Government: the national daily L'Observateur
comented that "the court essentially ruled that [Inteior
Minister] Ousmane Ngom violated the law in tis affair.
... Now it's time to bring charges aainst the Ministry
of Interior." The pro-governent daily newspaper Le
Soleil termed the verdict"a happy ending" and quoted Sud
Quotidien Coordinator Fall as saying during the trial that
"Salif adio is a Senegalese citizen, and he has the right
to speak his mind." Media coverage was extensive but

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short-lived, as there was not a single news story on the
so-called "Sud FM Affair" after a wave of coverage during
the period January 7-9.


7. (SBU) COMMENT: The outcome of the "Sud FM Affair" is
indeed a happy ending for local media, which were quite
concerned that this trial heralded a crackdown against
freedom of expression in the run-up to elections in 2007.
Even before the trial, Information Minister Bacar Dia and
even President Wade had made several public signals that
the GOS sought a rapprochement with the press, and this
verdict lends credibility to their statements. Sud
Communications has told Emboff that it has no intention of
filing a countersuit, which augers well for continued
improvement in relations between the media and the
government in Senegal. END COMMENT.

JACKSON