Senegalese woman fined after filming police bribe

A Senegalese court has fined a woman $250 (£190) and given her a one-month suspended prison term for paying a bribe to a policeman, despite the fact she filmed him demanding the money.

Her video, which she filmed in secret and posted on social media, shows the officer writing out a traffic ticket which he eats after a $5 bribe is paid.

It led to the policeman’s prosecution – a rare event in Senegal.

He was also fined $250 and given a two-month suspended sentence.

The woman, Sokhna Bousso Gaye, and her friend were driving through the capital, Dakar, when they were stopped by the policeman, Assane Diallo, last month.

The video shows him saying in the local Wolof language that he is going to have to fine them $10 for a traffic violation, which they would have to pay at a police station.

But he ends up accepting $5 and eating the ticket that he was writing out.

The other woman in the car was arrested on Wednesday and will also be charged with corruption.

The BBC’s Nadege Sinarinzi in Dakar says it is common for people to pay bribes to policemen for minor traffic violations to avoid more serious punishments.

But social media is now being used to highlight corruption and anti-social behaviour, our reporter says.

Last year, a taxi driver in Dakar was imprisoned for 45 days after being filmed driving over a pedestrian bridge, she says. BBC