Senegal has been in the grip of major violence for several days following the arrest of the opponent Ousmane Sonko.

President Macky Sall is accused of "conspiracy" in this affair and a protest group called for new demonstrations on Monday. 

Senegal has been the scene since Wednesday of clashes between young people and security forces, looting and looting.

The arrest of Ousmane Sonko, third in the 2019 presidential election and expected to be one of the main competitors for that of 2024, angered his supporters, but also, say many Senegalese, brought to its height the exasperation accumulated by the deterioration, at least since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, of living conditions in an already poor country.

Four people have been killed, authorities say, numbers difficult to verify amid the proliferation of unverified information from other sources.

Riots since Sonko's arrest

Ousmane Sonko was officially arrested for disturbing public order, as he went in procession to the court where he was summoned to respond to charges of rape brought against him by an employee of a beauty salon in which he was going to get a massage, he said, to relieve his back pain.

A personality with an anti-system profile, the deputy shouts at the plot hatched by President Macky Sall to remove him from the next presidential election.

On Saturday, the collective Movement for the Defense of Democracy (M2D), comprising the party of the arrested opponent, opposition parties and protesting civil society organizations called "to take to the streets massively" from Monday .

The collective attacked President Macky Sall harshly, described as "an apprentice dictator".

He lost "moral authority" to remain president, said one of the leaders of the movement, Cheikh Tidiane Dieye.

He stuck to these words when the press asked him if the collective called on the Senegalese to demand the resignation of Macky Sall, president since 2012.

President accused of conspiracy

The demonstrations believe in the "conspiracy" orchestrated by the president in power.

They individually express the wear and tear of daily hardships and the weariness vis-à-vis power.

A certain number point the finger at France, first trading partner seen as one of the main foreign supporters of Mr. Sall.

The Movement for the Defense of Democracy has designated the "foreign godfathers" to whom Macky Sall would endeavor to "please".

The president elected on the promise to put his country on the path to emergence denied at the end of February having anything to do with Mr. Sonko's legal troubles.

He has since remained silent, but the pressure is increasing for him to speak.

Saturday, it was his Minister of the Interior Antoine Félix Abdoulaye Diome who spoke vigorously.

He called for calm and dangled "the prospect" of an easing of the curfew established against the pandemic and which weighs on the activity of many.

But he also said that the state would use "all necessary means" to restore order.

"All those responsible for criminal acts will be searched for, arrested, prosecuted and brought to justice," he promised.

A quieter day on Saturday

After having experienced its worst unrest in years for three days, the country usually considered an island of stability in West Africa and its capital Dakar experienced a relative lull on Saturday, a day of usually break.

However, acts of looting and pillage continued to be reported, including against French brands.

The tension could however flare up again Monday with the call of the M2D.

This date coincides with the presentation of Ousmane Sonko before a judge.

The magistrate's decision to release him or to imprison him promises to be fraught with consequences.

The collective demands "the immediate release of all political prisoners illegally and arbitrarily detained", the reestablishment of the suspended signal of two television channels accused of having broadcast "in loop" images of the disturbances, and an investigation into what he said. calls a "conspiracy" of power.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) called "all parties to restraint and calm".

The African Union has expressed its "concern" and its attachment to a solution "by peaceful means, dialogue and with strict respect for order".