Restore calm by force. The Senegalese government deployed armed forces in the capital on Friday (June 2nd) after it was the scene of an outbreak of violence, which left nine dead. The spark: the conviction of the opponent Ousmane Sonko, presidential candidate of 2024, who sees his prospects of eligibility recede.

"While calling for calm and serenity of our fellow citizens, the State of Senegal has taken all measures to guarantee the safety of people and property," Interior Minister Antoine Diome said overnight at the end of one of the deadliest days of political protests in years in the country.

Men carrying fatigues and war rifles were positioned at different points in Dakar, the usually teeming capital with streets now deserted and activity almost paralyzed, AFP journalists found. The news agency was initially unable to identify their body of belonging.

Extensive destruction

In fear of looting, shops remained closed along entire streets still bearing the traces of the previous day's violence. The university in particular has been the scene of prolonged clashes and extensive destruction.

Students reported being instructed to leave campus and struggling to gather their belongings before finding transportation to take them elsewhere.

Many Dakarers have decided not to travel for fear for their safety or because they cannot find a means of transport.

The government has acknowledged that it has restricted access to social networks such as Facebook, WhatsApp or Twitter to stop, according to him, "the dissemination of hateful and subversive messages".

Several districts of Dakar, Casamance (south) and different cities were plagued Thursday by a new outbreak caused by the situation of the opponent Ousmane Sonko, the fiercest opponent of President Macky Sall, engaged for two years in a fierce showdown with the power for his judicial and political survival.

Clashes between young people and security forces punctuated Thursday, as well as looting of shops and public facilities and an invasion of the highway between Dakar and the international airport. Interior Minister Antoine Diome reported nine deaths on national television.

Before the events of 1 June, some 2021 civilians had been killed since <> in unrest largely linked to the situation of Ousmane Sonko. The camp of the latter and the power blame each other.

Ousmane Sonko ineligible?

The opponent, third in the 2019 presidential election, was sentenced Thursday by a criminal chamber to two years in prison for pushing to "debauchery" a young woman under 21 years old.

The court acquitted him of the charges of rape and death threats against this employee of a beauty salon where he was going to be massaged between 2020 and 2021, charges for which he was tried. The decision seems, in view of the electoral code, to lead to the ineligibility of Ousmane Sonko.

The latter has continued to deny the accusations by shouting at the machination of power to remove him from the presidential election. The government denies and the Minister of the Interior repeated overnight that the case was a "dispute" of a private nature.

Ousmane Sonko was absent at the delivery of the judgment. He is presumed to be blocked by security forces at his home in the capital, "kidnapped" according to him.

Popular among young people

But after two years of a confrontation with the authorities that has kept the country in suspense, he can now be arrested "at any time", Justice Minister Ismaila Madior Fall told reporters. Such an arrest is likely to inflame people's minds.

The relatively young age of Ousmane Sonko, his sovereignist and pan-Africanist discourse, his defence of religious values and traditions, his diatribes against the "state mafia", multinationals and the economic and political influence exercised, according to him, by the former French colonial power earned him a strong support among young people in search of prospects and hope in a difficult economic and social environment. The under-20s make up half of the population.

Another factor of tension is the vagueness maintained by President Sall on his intention to run or not for a third term in 2024.

With AFP

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