VZCZCXRO0733
PP RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #0086/01 0130714
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 130714Z JAN 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3908
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

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 
 
DAKAR 00000086  002 OF 002 
 
 
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