In Dakar, young Senegalese clashed with the police on Monday in neighborhoods near the home of opponent Ousmane Sonko. The latter, usually very engaged on social networks, has remained silent since his arrest the day before in the south of the country.
The situation is tense again in Dakar. Young Senegalese clashed with the police on Monday, May 29, in districts of the capital of Senegal, near the home of Ousmane Sonko.
The opponent, engaged for two years in a standoff with power, has remained silent since he was forcibly brought back to the capital by the gendarmes the day before.
These groups of young people attacked with stones the security forces deployed in large numbers around Keur Gorgui, where Ousmane Sonko lives, AFP journalists noted. They also burned tires on one of the main axes of the capital and set up makeshift roadblocks in adjacent streets.
The security forces responded by firing an abundance of tear gas. They blocked the streets giving access to the home of Ousmane Sonko. The latter is in a state of “sequestration”, his party’s spokesman, Ousseynou Ly, told AFP.
Vehicles were also set on fire near the home of former sports minister and current chief of staff to President Macky Sall, Matar Bâ, local media reported.
Ousmane Sonko forcibly brought home
Usually very present on social networks, Ousmane Sonko has not spoken since the gendarmes abruptly ended his return march to Dakar on Sunday in the south of the country and forcibly brought him home.
His silence gave rise to a flood of speculation about the possibility of a placement under house arrest. No power official has spoken about his status.
“The restrictions on the freedoms to come and go imposed on Ousmane Sonko without any act being notified to him are illegal and must end,” wrote Amnesty International on social networks.
#Senegal – Reaction
The rule of law commands the submission of all to the Right and the law, including on the part of the authorities.
The restrictions on the freedoms to come and go imposed on Ousmane Sonko, without any act being notified to him, are illegal and must end.
— Amnesty Senegal (@AmnestySenegal) May 29, 2023
Risk of tension with a verdict expected on Thursday
Ousmane Sonko, declared presidential candidate in 2024 and threatened with ineligibility, has since 2021 been the main character of a political and judicial soap opera which regularly puts Dakar under tension.
These tensions threaten to increase further with the approach of the verdict to be rendered on Thursday by a criminal chamber in a trial against him for rape.
Ousmane Sonko, third in the presidential election in 2019, risks losing his eligibility. He refused to appear, crying out for the conspiracy of power to remove him from the presidential election.
The mobilization of his supporters has regularly given rise to incidents and unrest since the start of the case in 2021. That year, his arrest in Dakar, as he went in procession to the summons of a judge , had contributed to triggering several days of riots which had left at least ten dead.
With AFP
Source: France 24
