The rape trial against Senegalese opponent Ousmane Sonko, a declared candidate for the 2024 presidential election, has been postponed to May 23, after briefly opening in his absence on Tuesday, May 16, in Dakar, amid unrest across the country.
The day before, Monday, clashes between young supporters of Ousmane Sonko and the security forces and acts of ransacking had taken place, especially in Ziguinchor, stronghold of Ousmane Sonko, and in the Dakar region. The authorities reported three deaths, without directly linking them to the clashes but citing a context conducive to violence.
Ousmane Sonko, president of the Pastef les patriotes party and third in the presidential election in 2019, was supposed to appear Tuesday before a criminal chamber in Dakar to answer for rape and death threats against an employee of a beauty salon in the capital. He has always denied the facts and cried out at the plot of the power to remove him from the presidential election and had announced that he would no longer respond to the summons of justice, instrumentalized according to him.
See also Amadou Sall, former Senegalese Minister of Justice: "There is no conspiracy against Ousmane Sonko"
His accuser, Adji Sarr, a young woman in her twenties, and Ousmane Sonko's co-accused, Ndèye Khady Ndiaye, owner of the Dakar beauty salon in which the facts allegedly occurred, were well present, in a palace once again placed under high police protection.
"I'm in good shape. I am confident. We're going to win. It's a shame that after waiting two years for a trial, he (Sonko) fled," said Adji Sarr, in a white robe, before the opening of the hearing. The court ordered the case adjourned after a few minutes.
All streets leading to Ousmane Sonko's home blocked
Ousmane Sonko, 48, was then several hundred kilometers away in Ziguinchor, capital of Casamance, city of which he is the mayor and where he retired a few days ago, said the spokesman of his party, Ousseynou Ly.
Groups of young men determined to prevent him from being picked up and dragged by force in front of the courtyard clashed with security forces there for much of Monday, with tear gas being fired in response to stone-throwing.
On Tuesday, all the streets leading to Ousmane Sonko's home remained blocked by resolute protesters, many of whom were elated. Young people, their faces masked, metal bar or stones in hand, stood guard on street corners in the city, AFP journalists found.
Sporadic clashes were also reported Monday in Dakar and its region. A fire has totally destroyed about twenty vehicles in a depot of the national bus company in Keur Massar, a suburb of Dakar, found an AFP journalist. The press reported attacks on two stores of the French brand Auchan, the usual target of such acts.
The case of Ousmane Sonko, popular among the under-20s who represent half of the population, has monopolized the public debate for two years, with the intentions of President Macky Sall. The latter, elected in 2012, re-elected in 2019, maintains the vagueness on a new candidacy in 2024. The prospect of a third term on his part has many opponents, who say it is unconstitutional.
With AFP
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