a magistrate calls for a prison term and an arrest warrant against opponent Ousmane Sonko

These requisitions risk angering tens of thousands of Ousmane Sonko supporters. A Senegalese magistrate demanded, Monday, May 8, a prison sentence and the issuance of an arrest warrant against opponent Ousmane Sonko, during an appeal trial for defamation on which his candidacy for the presidential election could depend. 2024. In detail, the public prosecutor requested against him two years of imprisonment including one firm, an arrest warrant and the publication of the judgment in five newspapers. The court was expected to deliver its decision within hours. Ousmane Sonko was absent from the trial before the Dakar Court of Appeal.

Third in the 2019 presidential election and declared candidate for that of February 2024, the opponent is being prosecuted by the Minister of Tourism Mame Mbaye Niang for “defamation, insults and forgery”. He was sentenced in March at first instance to a two-month suspended prison sentence and 200 million CFA francs (300,000 euros) in damages. This sentence preserved his eligibility, according to his lawyers, but this could be called into question by a heavier sentence on appeal.

Another trial scheduled for May 16

His supporters accuse the power in place of using justice to prevent him from running for president in 2024. The presidential party accuses Ousmane Sonko of wanting to paralyze the country and of using the streets to escape the justice. In March 2021, his arrest in a case of alleged rape had helped trigger several days of riots, which had left at least a dozen dead. That trial is scheduled for May 16.