Why are tensions flaring in Senegal after Sonko’s sentencing?

World
By William

INTERPRETER

Supporters of opposition members denounce charges and two years in prison as a ploy to prevent him from running in next year’s presidential election.

Nine people have been killed in clashes that erupted after Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was sentenced to two years in prison.

Sonko’s supporters threw stones at riot police and set fire to buses on Thursday after a court sentenced him in absentia for “corruption of youth”.

He was acquitted on charges of raping a woman who worked at a massage parlor and making death threats against her.

Supporters denounce the allegations as a ploy to prevent him from running in the presidential election scheduled for February 2024.

The government and judiciary deny this.

Why did the protests break out?

Sonko’s PASTEF party said the verdict was part of a political conspiracy and called on citizens to “stop all activity and take to the streets” in a statement.

The case has sparked violent protests in the West African country since 2021 amid growing frustration with President Macky Sall.

Critics say Sall, who was elected in 2012, has failed to create jobs and has quelled opposition criticism amid rumors he would try to evade presidential term limits and return next year to get started again.

Sonko came third in Senegal’s 2019 presidential election and is popular with the country’s youth. He is considered President Macky Sall’s main competitor and has urged Sall to declare publicly that he will not seek a third term.

What happened after the verdict?

Clashes broke out between police and protesters following Thursday’s verdict, buses were set on fire in the capital Dakar and disturbances were reported elsewhere, including the city of Ziguinchor, where Sonko has been mayor since 2022.

Thick black smoke billowed from a central university campus in Dakar, where protesters set fire to several buses in the afternoon and threw stones at riot police, who responded by firing tear gas.

Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque filmed the arrest of a man from Dakar while speaking to Al Jazeera.

Seyni Senghor, a resident of Dakar, said he “wanted nothing to do with politics”.

“I don’t want anything to do with politicians, I’m just a worker who has been working for a private company since 2017,” he said. “I have never witnessed such violence, I am shocked to see the police behave like this.”

When asked by Haque if he was scared, he said, “Yes, I’m scared, I’m so scared.” As he spoke, he was apprehended by masked police and taken to a police van.

Social media suspended

Several social media and messaging platforms were curtailed late Thursday in Senegal.

The move “is likely to have a significant impact on the public’s ability to interact,” according to the NetBlocks Internet observatory.

Similar closures occurred during widespread protests in 2021, it said.

Can Sonko still become president in 2024?

Sonko’s first arrest on rape charges in 2021 sparked several days of clashes that left at least 12 people dead.

“Ousmane Sonko’s candidacy is in jeopardy,” Djiby Diagne, one of his lawyers, told Reuters news agency.

Citing Senegal’s electoral law, a second lawyer, Bamba Cisse, said that “with this sentence, Sonko cannot be a candidate”.

“The conviction for youth corruption hinders his eligibility because he was sentenced in absentia, so we cannot appeal,” he added.

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