By IPS Correspondents
DAKAR, Jun 13 2007 (IPS)

For a while it appeared as if Madiambal Diagne might have found a way around the Senegalese government’s apparent determination to keep him away from the airwaves.

The well-known journalist and head of “Avenir communications” (Future Communications) had tried since 2003 to start a radio station, only to be told that frequencies were at saturation point – this as pro-government persons succeeded in setting up stations, Diagne told IPS.

Undaunted, Avenir bought a company that had already been allocated a frequency, Iso Trading Technologies (ITT), and established “Première FM” (First FM).

The station looked set to become Senegal’s newest private broadcaster. But now, it’s at the centre of the newest press freedom controversy.

On May 31, Première FM’s equipment was seized by police after the governmental Telecommunications and Postal Regulation Agency (Agence de régulation des télécommunications et des postes, ARTP) accused the station of contravening various regulations.

In one instance, equipment was said to have been imported into Senegal for the station by ITT without the necessary approval from officials. A second complaint alleged unauthorised use of a telecommunications link between Première FM’s studios and its transmitters.

While the seized equipment was returned to the station after staffers were questioned, it is still being kept under lock and key.

The ARTP had already intervened with the broadcaster once before, preventing it from starting transmission on Feb. 24. However, a second injunction from the agency was simply ignored by Première FM, which began test transmissions towards the end of May – prompting the police action of May 31.

Could government have feared criticism from the station during the parliamentary elections that took place earlier this month – boycotted by leading opposition groups – or during the presidential poll that was about to be held when the brakes were first put on Première FM?

Diagne had crossed swords with authorities in 2004 after writing about alleged corruption in the judiciary and customs service in a newspaper he owns, ‘Le Quotidien’ (The Daily) – work that saw him jailed. But, “What could we say on the elections that the others have not said or cannot say?” he asked.

The 2004 arrest sparked a local and international outcry that ultimately obliged government to free Diagne.

Fewer voices have been raised in response to the Première FM shut-down. “An arrest affects (people) more than a simple suspension of programmes on a radio station,” said the Avenir head.

Explaining the absence of public condemnation by the Union of Professionals in Information and Communication (Syndicat des professionnels de l’information et de la communication, Synpics), executive bureau member Moustapha Diop told IPS that as “the confiscated equipment has been returned” and efforts are underway to resolve matters, the union preferred not to “poison” the situation.

Diop also noted, amongst others, that Synpics acts when it receives appeals from its members – but that the station was too new for it to have become unionised.

In his office on the third floor of the building that houses Avenir communications, Première FM director Michel Diouf has a different understanding of the diminished support given to the station.

The veteran of Sud-FM (South FM, the first private station in Senegal) and of the government controlled Radio-Sénégal says it reflects the fact that competitors are “not happy” about the arrival of Première FM, and the prospect of losing well-known and experienced staffers to the new station.

IPS could not obtain comment from government on the suspension of Première FM, which has 45 days to get in line with regulations.

Over recent years, authorities have come under fire for allowing repressive media legislation to remain on the books – laws that allow journalists to be jailed for defamation, for instance, or for reports viewed as likely to cause political disturbance.

Senegal also came to the attention of media watchers in April with reports of a ruling party official and his supporters threatening staff at a radio station east of the capital – Dakar – this following criticisms from a caller to a phone in programme.

A few days before this, a Dakar court was reported to have issued a prison sentence and damages against a journalist concerning an article about possible irregularities in the freeing of a former prime minister who had been serving time for corruption.

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