A Senegalese newspaper publisher El Malick Seck has been sentenced to three years imprisonment for allegedly printing false information offending President Abdoulaye Wade.

Mr Seck’s newspaper, 24 Heures Chrono, was also banned from publication for three months. His sentence is the latest step in an escalating conflict between Wade’s government and independent media, which critics say is damaging West African country’s reputation for stable democracy.

Mr Seck was arrested 28 August after his paper printed an article charging that president Wade and his son were involved in laundering money stolen from an Ivory Coast bank. However, Senegalese authorities have said that the article was untrue.

The judge said Mr Seck did not provide sufficient proof to back up his allegations. But Mr Seck maintained in trial that information came from reports that were publicly available.

Editor of 24 Heures Chrono, Sambou Biagui said Mr Seck had been sentenced because the paper put in the open wrongdoings of those who are running the country. “This is a political sentence, El Malick Seck is a political detainee,” said Mr Biagui.

The case has come at a time of increasingly tense relations between government and media. Last month, offices of 24 Heures Chrono and another paper, L’As, were ransacked.

Some newspapers accused Farba Senghor, propoganda chief for ruling Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), of complicity in the raids. He hit back, accusing four papers of a “relentless, orchestrated” campaign against him.

In late August he was sacked from his post as transport minister - though government insisted this was to allow him to defend himself against the accusations, rather than an admission of his guilt.

Paris-based press rights group Reporters without Borders has condemned sentence, and called on president Wade to reform Senegal’s media laws.

“Not only is the alleged defamation not undone by the condemnation of this journalist to a very heavy sentence, but also the government will find itself with a political prisoner,” the Paris-based group said in a statement.

Tensions have been growing in recent months between the press and government in Senegal, with journalists having held demonstrations and marches charging government with trying to intimidate reporters and squash negative coverage.

A newspaper publisher has been jailed for three years in Senegal for printing an article deemed offensive to President Abdoulaye Wade. El Malick Seck’s newspaper, the 24 Heures Chrono, was also banned from publication for three months.

Mr Seck was arrested in August after he wrote an article alleging Mr Wade and his son were involved in laundering money stolen from an Ivory Coast bank. Senegalese authorities have said that the article was untrue.

The court in the capital, Dakar, found Mr Seck guilty of offending the head of state, publishing false news, and acts that could lead to public disturbances. But Sambou Biagui, editor of 24 Heures Chrono, told Reuters news agency that Mr Seck had been sentenced “simply because our paper put in the open the wrongdoings of those who are running this country”.

The case has come at a time of increasingly tense relations between the government and the media. Last month, the offices of 24 Heures Chrono and another paper, L’As, were ransacked.

Some newspapers accused Farba Senghor, propoganda chief for the ruling Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), of complicity in the raids. He hit back, accusing four papers of a “relentless, orchestrated” campaign against him.

In late August he was sacked from his post as transport minister - though the government insisted this was to allow him to defend himself against the accusations, rather than an admission of his guilt.

On Thursday, 12 people were sentenced to prison terms of five to six years over the raids, including two of Mr Senghor’s bodyguard.

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Troisième et quatrième épisodes de la saison 6 ce soir sur Canal. Rien de mieux pour se détendre. J’espère que Jack Bauer va encore croquer des carotides.

Ps: Si Jack Bauer pouvait venir s’occuper de nos Bloqueurs/Braqueurs ce serait sympa, ils feraient moins les malins.

Enfin, 24 heures chrono recommence. Il faut dire qu’on s’était quitté sur une mauvaise note, Jack Bauer se faisant rattrapé par les chinois (tout un programme). Mais, merci Canal, on va enfin savoir la suite. Notre héros Blondinet va certainement sauver le monde (orinal?!, maison ne s’en lasse pas) encore une fois (ou pas, finalement, ce serait peut être fun). Et puis on va tout savoir sur Audrey, aussi. En tout cas, j’attends ça avec impatience, ça me remettra de cette journée de m***** et puis comme demain j’ai pas E.C.O.L.E. (?!) je suis pas obligée de me coucher tôt (lol).

… c’est la durée d’un épisode, et c’est le temps qu’on que je passe à chaque fois pour les admirer Alors juste pour le plaisir des yeux les filles, voilà mon top-list

PS: Pour ce post, je fais mienne la revendication de tymilk pour le droit à “un post pas terrible au moins une fois par semaine” n’empêche, Lucas Scott je t’aimeeeeee!!! bon je me calme, oui oui je n’ai plus 15 ans je sais