The senior investigating judge has signed an order granting provisional release to Soya Diagne. The final decision now rests with the public prosecutor's office: if the prosecution does not appeal, the journalist will be able to spend the Tabaski holiday with his family.

Libération, which broke the story, notes that Soya Diagne was remanded in custody on October 16, 2025, for spreading false news and making offensive remarks. Although the Court of Appeal had previously approved his release under house arrest with an electronic monitoring bracelet, an appeal by the public prosecutor's office to the Supreme Court had thus far blocked his release from prison.

The case, which has generated considerable controversy, stems from a self-initiated investigation by the public prosecutor's office following the release of a 56-second video on TikTok. In this video, a high-ranking government official was accused of raping a Rwandan national in Paris. The prosecutor's preliminary indictment also targeted activist Ousseynou Seck, also known as "Akhenaton," as well as another anonymous profile very active on Facebook and X.

When questioned by investigators, Soya Diagne denied any connection with Akhenaton, whom he described as close to the government, while he himself claims to be a member of the Alliance for the Republic (APR). He also asserted that he discovered the infamous TikTok video right in front of the police officers.

Regarding his own Facebook posts, he claimed that they were simply screenshots of Akhenaton's posts, used in a purely humorous way.