Sixty armed Senegalese government security agents raided the headquarters of a radio station yesterday, the Senegalese newspaper Wal Fadjri reported.
The security agents, sent by the government telecommunications agency, which is responsible for regulating the Senegalese radio stations, seized all equipment of the Group Avenir Radio; the all-news station, which launched this week, has been banned for 45 days, according to Wal Fadjri.
Madiambal Diagne, the radio station's owner, is also the executive director of Le Quotidien, a Senegalese daily known for its criticism of President Abdoulaye Wade. According to Afrol News, officials from the telecommunications agency failed in an attempt to have Diagne stop broadcasting. "Mr. Diagne was asked to remove the station from the air but he refused, asking them to do it themselves," a staff member reportedly said.
The security agents then raided the station and took it off the air.
