The Embassy of Senegal in Ottawa condemned what it considered the dissemination of "false and shocking" information about one of its diplomats with the aim of "downplaying the severity" of the "unacceptable violence by the police" committed in Canada.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Senegalese Embassy said that the "allegations" against its diplomat, Niang Amkelthoum Sall, show "a clear intention to downplay the seriousness of the incident, which concerns a flagrant and serious violation of the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations."

The arrest of the diplomat on August 2 at her home in the city of Gatineau caused protests in Senegal and embarrassment for the Canadian government.

Niang Amkelthoum Sall is the foreign affairs advisor at her country's embassy in Ottawa and was the victim of "humiliating physical and moral violence," as her hands were restrained and she was beaten, according to Senegalese authorities, during the intervention of the Gatineau city police at her home.

For its part, the Canadian government condemned the incident and considered it unacceptable.

"Any case of brutality, police brutality against anyone in our country, whether Canadian, visitor, or diplomat, is of course absolutely unacceptable," said Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland last Tuesday, promising to follow up on the matter.

The intervention of the Gatineau Municipal Police Service (SPVG) was aimed at accompanying a bailiff who came to notify the Senegalese diplomat of an order issued by the Administrative Housing Court (TAL) in the province of Quebec.

According to this order, which Radio Canada obtained a copy of and AFP was allowed to review,

Niang Amkelthoum Sall must pay more than $45,000 to her landlord for "unpaid rent" and damage caused to the home.

However, the Senegalese Embassy regretted in its statement that the information conveyed by the press "relies solely on the landlord’s narrative."

Seeking to "set the record straight," the Senegalese Embassy detailed in its statement the long-standing disputes between Niang Amkelthoum Sall and her landlord, arguing that the diplomat was acting in good faith throughout and that she suffered heating and humidity problems in the house due to non-compliance with building standards and that the landlord had threatened her.

After being angered by this treatment, the Senegalese diplomat finally decided to move from her home to another place in October 2020. Upon handing over the house keys, she gave the management official the last rent due, but he refused it.
 

And always according to the Senegalese Embassy, Niang Amkelthoum Sall received a few months later, through a bailiff, a request to pay $57,207 to cover, in particular, the costs of rebuilding the house.

For her part, the Senegalese diplomat stated through a lawyer that she only owed the landlord one month's rent for October 2020, which the property manager did not want to accept.

The Senegalese Embassy sees that in light of these clarifications, the charges against Niang Amkelthoum Sall are unfounded.

"Nothing in this case can justify the violence suffered by Mrs. Niang and her minor children," concluded the Senegalese Embassy in its statement, noting that it "is closely following the investigation that has been ordered regarding the unacceptable actions by police officers."

It is noted that the investigation into the case has been assigned to the Independent Investigation Office (BEI) of the Ministry of Public Security in the province of Quebec.

Gatineau is located in southwestern Quebec and is separated from the Canadian federal capital, which bears the aforementioned river's name, by the Ottawa River.