By Dioni L. Wise
The UNITY News Online

A man protesting Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade was assaulted and physically removed from the McCormick Center West on Friday.

Wade spoke at the UNITY convention about the challenges his West African country faces as it deals with poor agricultural production and high food prices because of droughts.

The protester shouted during the middle of his speech.

A man wearing a light blue-shirt and cap hit the protester in the face, said Alphonso Van Marsh, a CNN London correspondent a witness.

The letters “PDS” were embossed on the assailant’s hat, Marsh said. The letters and yellow and blue represent the Senegalese Democratic Party headed by Wade.

Chicago police officers and the U.S. Secret Service stopped the commotion, said Monique Bond, Chicago Police Department director of news affairs. Bond did not release the name of the protestor because no arrests or charges were made.

She said the protester allegedly challenged the Senegalese security officers.

“Apparently the individual had no [convention] credentials,” she said of the protester. “At that point, there was a disturbance, and the Secret Service was also involved. In assisting the Secret Service, the Chicago Police Department did try to interrupt and to stop the commotion.”

Wade remained at the podium during the altercation while his supporters, dressed in light blue and yellow, cheered. He finished his speech after the protester was taken from the room.

Before Wade’s speech, about 30 protestors picketed outside the McCormick Center. They said he misappropriated government funds and does not protect the freedom of the press.

Under Wade’s administration, Senegalese authorities have used criminal libel laws to detain and question at least 15 journalists reporting political stories, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based nonprofit organization dedicated to freedom of the press.

Amy Ndiaye, a Wade supporter, emigrated from Senegal to the U.S. in 1990 and was naturalized two years ago. She arrived in Chicago from New York City on Wednesday to hear him speak at UNITY.
“They wanted to say something that’s not existing in our country,” she said, of the protesters.

Van Marsh said the Wade speech did not “pan out” like he wanted.

“I was looking for something a little bit substantive than an hour of him [Wade] explaining his plan for preserving the environment,” Van Marsh said. “However, I do congratulate NABJ for having a head of state at the conference.”

The National Association of Black Journalists sponsored the speech, “Confronting Climate Change: An African Perspective.” His appearance marked the first time a head of state from outside the United States spoke at a UNITY convention.

The disturbance did not ruin the session, according to its moderator, John Yearwood, NABJ treasurer and a member of the UNITY board of directors. Yearwood is the world editor at the Miami Herald.

“I see this as us giving the president an opportunity to answer tough questions,” he said. “At the end of the day, that’s what we accomplished.”

By EUNICE LEE and APRIL YEE
The UNITY News

More than 50 demonstrators are flying into Chicago from as far away as Paris and Dakar to protest a speech by Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade, organizers said Wednesday.

Critics say Wade, who will speak Friday at an event hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists, has suppressed press freedom in a country that enjoys one of the most vibrant media climates in Africa.

Wade will speak four days after Senegalese media outlets staged a press blackout to protest the beating of two reporters by Senegalese police. Web sites went black, and most newspapers did not publish.

NABJ President Barbara Ciara defended Wade’s invitation, saying “We invite people here so they can answer questions. We are journalists.

“The same would go for President Bush. …The same would go for Condoleezza Rice, figures that are not popular…,” Ciara said. “We want figures that are both popular and unpopular.”

To her point, when Wade was introduced at the UNITY opening ceremony, more than 40 Senegalese-Americans, many in “Wade in 2012” T-shirts, cheered him and waved flags.

NABJ also is hosting an invitation-only $500-per-person dinner with Wade for more than 70 people Friday. Ciara said the proceeds will help pay for NABJ to move into its new headquarters.

Though Senegal once had what the European press called one of the best records regarding a free press in Africa, Wade’s eight-year tenure has been marked by controversy over press freedom. Since Wade was re-elected in a landslide in February 2007, journalists’ complaints against Wade’s treatment of them have increased, even as he is embraced by the international community. Wade recently attended the G8 summit in Japan.

“Senegal has long been a model for press freedom prior to the arrival of Mr. Wade in office,” said Mohamed Keita, of the media watchdog group Committee to Protect Journalists.

In March, Senegalese police Tasered a TV journalist trying to interview an opposition leader at an anti-government demonstration. Last month, Senegalese police beat two journalists covering a soccer match. Newspapers called for Wade to condemn the incident, but Wade did not comment.

After the beatings, journalists banded to form another watchdog group called the Committee for the Protection and Defense of Journalists. And on Monday, Senegalese newspapers, radio stations and TV outlets participated in a media blackout. The Web sites for the daily newspapers Sud Quotidien and Le Quotidien featured a black background and red letters with the words: “DAY WITHOUT NEWS.”

“That’s like shutting your eyes and closing your mouth,” Ciara said. “To me, that’s totally not the approach of a free and open press, to shut yourself down.”

John Yearwood, the NABJ member who helped coordinate Wade’s visit, said, “There’s discontent against just about every leader in about every country. But this discontent does not mean that that president should not have been invited to speak.

“You have a country that clearly has work to do,” Yearwood said. “But what we are looking for from President Wade is a commitment to improve the sustainability of the press in his country.”

On Friday, Wade will answer questions from U.S. reporters after his speech about maintaining farmlands and providing more food to Senegalese residents. His critics, who include members of Senegal’s opposition political party and journalists, are not impressed.

Diop said the June beatings were the catalyst for recent outrage among Senegalese about the government’s treatment towards journalists.

“We fought for him to be elected, for him to be president, because we wanted there to be a free press, and that is what he is refusing,” Diop said. “We want to make American opinion leaders press the president to change the way he’s treating journalists.”

Ali Sarr, a Senegalese-American citizen who lives in the U.S. said, “I don’t think it’s appropriate for somebody who’s violating those (press) freedoms … I don’t think that kind of person should really be the person to make a presentation about freedom at all.”