Senegal: Three content creators jailed for insulting president

A Dakar court sentenced three content creators affiliated with Senegal's "Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity" (Pastef) party to two to three months in prison. They were convicted of offending the Senegalese head of state, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, following the dissemination of a video on social media.

The defense argued during the hearing that the video did not explicitly name the president or directly mention the role of head of state. They contended that the prosecution was based on an interpretation of the content by the public ministry. The three activists, detained since the previous Thursday, had published a viral TikTok video that included insults and invoked death and misfortune against "those who betrayed the Pastef political project."

President Faye launched his own political party on Saturday, following months of tension with his former ally and ex-prime minister Ousmane Sonko, the leader of Pastef, which holds a parliamentary majority. The new party is named Kiiraay, meaning "protection or shield" in Wolof, Senegal's majority indigenous language. Faye announced his intention to create this new party on July 3 to strengthen governmental unity after his recent estrangement from Sonko.

Faye, 46, largely owes his position to Sonko, 52, who would almost certainly have taken office if he had not been disqualified from the March 24, 2024 presidential elections due to a defamation conviction. The current president, previously little known, ran as an independent in those elections, replacing Sonko, then a leading opposition figure, after his candidacy was rejected by the Constitutional Council. Both Faye and Sonko were detained from mid-2023 and released on March 14, 2024, under an amnesty aimed at calming protests over the election's postponement.