The Senegalese Supreme Court confirmed Thursday just before midnight the sentence of imprisoned opponent Ousmane Sonko to six months in prison for defamation, a sentence widely seen as making him ineligible for the February 25 presidential election.
The announcement was made by judge Abdourahmane Diouf and confirmed by two lawyers for the opponent, a declared presidential candidate and central figure in a standoff of more than two years with the State which gave rise to several episodes of deadly unrest.
“We confirmed the sentence and damages. Sonko lost all the way. It is now completely forbidden to participate in an election,” reacted state lawyer El Hadji Diouf after the decision.
Mr. Sonko’s lawyers dodged the question about their client’s eligibility. The Constitutional Council should decide the question soon.
Ousmane Sonko, 49, third in the 2019 presidential election, is being sued by Tourism Minister Mame Mbaye Niang for “defamation, insults and forgery”.
After more than twelve hours of debate, the Supreme Court confirmed the sentence given on appeal of six months suspended prison sentence and 200 million CFA francs (300,000 euros) in damages, which seriously compromises the chances of opponent to participate in the presidential election.
The Supreme Court’s decision closes this case.
Sonko’s camp had regained hope in a candidacy from their leader after a judge ordered his re-registration on the electoral lists in mid-December, confirming a decision rendered in October by the court of Ziguinchor (South) which had was overturned by the Supreme Court.
He was inaugurated on Sunday by his coalition for the presidential election in a private place, behind closed doors, after the authorities banned the public meeting planned for Saturday.
Despite the administration’s refusal to provide Mr. Sonko with the necessary documents, the opponent submitted his application to the Constitutional Council. His representative must appear before the jurisdiction’s sponsorship control commission on Friday.
On Wednesday, this body validated the file of Habib Sy, a candidate from the same political side as Mr. Sonko, who promised to withdraw if the leader of his party can run.
Another plan B of his formation whose file was examined on Thursday, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, must regularize his situation concerning his sponsorships to participate in the ballot.
” Match point “
“This trial is the match point. We are bound by deadlines,” Me Cheikh Koureyssi Ba, one of the opponent’s counsel, declared at the hearing.
“This affair is an operation of political liquidation of an adversary, with a timetable where we count the days to say that such and such a person will not participate in the presidential election. Mr. President, I hope that this political order will not pass before you,” said Mr. Massokhna Kane, closing the pleadings of Mr. Sonko’s lawyers.
In another proceeding, Mr. Sonko was found guilty on 1er June of debauchery of a minor and sentenced to two years in prison. The opponent did not appear at the trial and was convicted in absentia.
The 49-year-old man has been imprisoned since the end of July on other charges, including calling for insurrection, and denounces all these cases as plots aimed at excluding him from the presidential election.
Mr. Sonko’s personality is divisive. His sovereignist, pan-Africanist and social discourse, his diatribes against the elites, corruption and the economic and political influence exercised, according to him, by the former French colonial power, have earned him strong support among young people.