In Senegal, major press and media organizations staged a sit-in on Thursday evening outside the SEVEN-TV headquarters in Dakar. The protest followed the release of journalist and station director Maimouna Ndour Faye, who had been arrested alongside Babacar Fall, editor-in-chief of RFM.

Both were detained after airing interviews with businessman Madiambal Diagne, who is currently under an international arrest warrant. Press unions have condemned the arrests as a grave attack on press freedom and a setback for Senegalese democracy.

In response, media bodies announced the creation of a new coalition, the Front for the Defense of Press Freedom, to coordinate actions against what they consider rising threats to journalistic independence.

Mamadou Ibra Kane, president of the Council of Broadcasters and Press Publishers of Senegal (CDEPS), voiced strong support for the initiative.