Court Fines Senegalese Woman Who Exposed Corrupt Police Officer

Senegalese woman Sokhna Bousso Gaye has been ordered to pay the sum of $250 by a Senegalese court for what it considers an attempt to bribe a police officer. Gaye was also given a one-month suspended sentence.

The BBC reports that Sokhna Gaye posted a video on social media of a traffic police officer demanding a bribe from her. The video, which she managed to film in secret, shows the officer writing out a traffic ticket for her and then go ahead to chew it up after a $5 bribe was paid. The incident happened last month as Gaye and her friend were driving through Senegal’s capital, Dakar.

In the video, the policeman can be heard telling Gaye in the local Wolof language that she was guilty of a traffic violation. He then “threatened” to issue her a ticket fine for $10, which she would have to pay at a police station. But then he apparently softens up, collects the $5 bribe, and destroys the ticket by eating it.

The video, which went viral on social media, led to the prosecution of the policeman, who was duly identified as Assane Diallo. The courts found him guilty of receiving a bribe but let him off lightly with a combined fine of $250 and a suspended two-month sentence.

Curiously, the courts also found Gaye guilty of paying a bribe despite the fact that she had filmed the policeman demanding the money. Prosecutions of law enforcement personnel are dismally low in Senegal, and many have expressed surprise that officer was even charged in court.

The unnamed woman riding with Gaye in the car was also arrested on Wednesday. Authorities say she will be charged with corruption as well.