Inside Minister Antoine Diome stated 9 protesters died within the capital Dakar and the southern city of Ziguinchor.
No less than 9 folks have been killed in Senegal in clashes between riot police and supporters of opposition chief Ousmane Sonko following a court docket sentencing him to 2 years in jail, the nation’s inside ministry stated.
Clashes broke out after Thursday’s verdict, which can disqualify Sonko, President Macky Sall’s fiercest opponent, from contesting subsequent yr’s presidential election.
Automobiles and buses have been set alight within the capital Dakar and disturbances have been reported elsewhere, together with the town of Ziguinchor, the place Sonko has been mayor since 2022.
“We’ve famous, with remorse, violence that has led to the destruction of private and non-private property and, sadly, 9 deaths in Dakar and Ziguinchor,” Inside Minister Antoine Diome stated on nationwide tv on Friday.
Sonko, 48, didn’t attend the listening to over an alleged sexual assault the place he was accused of raping a girl who labored in a therapeutic massage parlour in 2021, when she was 20, and making dying threats towards her. He denied wrongdoing and stated the fees have been politically motivated.
The court docket cleared Sonko of rape however discovered him responsible of a separate offence described within the penal code as immoral behaviour in the direction of people youthful than 21.
The justice ministry stated the opposition chief may now be taken to jail at any time.
Police remained stationed round his house in Dakar as unrest flared within the capital and elsewhere after the decision.
“With this sentence, Sonko can’t be a candidate,” stated one of many opposition chief’s legal professionals, Bamba Ciss, citing Senegal’s electoral regulation.
Sonko’s PASTEF celebration stated the decision was a part of a political plot and known as on residents in a press release to “cease all exercise and take to the streets”.
A former civil servant, Sonko rose to prominence in presidential elections in 2019, coming third after a marketing campaign that took purpose at President Sall and the nation’s ruling elite. He portrays Sall as corrupt and a would-be dictator, whereas the president’s supporters name Sonko a rabble-rouser who has sown instability. His preliminary arrest on rape expenses in 2021 sparked a number of days of clashes that left at the very least 12 folks lifeless.
On Thursday, thick black smoke billowed from a central college campus in Dakar, the place protesters set a number of buses alight within the afternoon and threw rocks at riot police who responded by firing tear gasoline.
Authorities spokesperson Abdou Karim Fofana stated safety forces had the scenario underneath management within the capital.
A number of social media and messaging platforms have been restricted in Senegal later within the night – a transfer “prone to considerably influence the general public’s skill to speak”, the NetBlocks web observatory stated.
College regulation professor Ndiack Fall stated Sonko may demand a retrial if he turns himself in to authorities. However Sonko’s supporters have denounced the fees as a ploy to stop him from operating in elections scheduled for February. The federal government and the justice system deny this.
Demonstrations aren’t unusual in Senegal and usually improve round elections. However Sall’s second time period has been notably turbulent for a rustic often considered as one among West Africa’s strongest democracies.
Individually, Sonko is interesting towards a six-month suspended jail sentence for libel – an offence he additionally denies.