Senegal: a first wave of detainees released against a backdrop of political crisis

First wave of detainees released this Thursday, February 15 afternoon in Senegal. There were around ten of them who began to trickle out of prisons, after having obtained provisional release, which comes in a tense political climate. Two weeks after the postponement of the presidential election by outgoing President Macky Sall, civil society and the opposition put pressure on the government to release so-called political detainees, in order to pacify the political space.

Dozens of gendarmes patrolled the area around the National Assembly on February 5 to prevent any gathering (illustrative photo). AP - Sylvain Cherkaoui

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With our correspondent in Dakar,

Théa Ollivier

The first inmates began to react as they left the prison. “

Let the fight continue

 ,” said Toussaint Manga, a member of the dissolved Pastef party, who was arrested last August in

Senegal

.

In the list which is growing slowly, we find Aliou Sané, from the Y'en a marre movement, coordinator of the civil society platform F24.

There is also the rapper Nitdoff, the private television preacher Sen TV Oustaz Assane Seck or the student and activist Pape Abdoulaye Touré.

“ 

All my clients have benefited from provisional release on the initiative of the public prosecutor 

,” assures lawyer Moussa Sarr. He specifies that the lifting of the committal warrant does not prevent the legal proceedings from taking their course.

These releases could bring a wind of relaxation, while

civil society

calls for the release of so-called political detainees, and while demonstrations are still planned this weekend to contest the postponement of the presidential election by

Macky Sall

.

Amadou Ba, member of the ex-Pastef, welcomes the release of the detainees and calls for the release of the others. But he assures that it is a unilateral decision which is not the result of negotiations. “

Our demand is first of all to respect the electoral calendar and to hold the election on the due date

,” insists the official.

Listen alsoSenegal: the questioning of a democratic model

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