(Dakar) The Senegalese Supreme Court confirmed Thursday just before midnight the sentencing 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 across the board. 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.
Mr. Sonko was sentenced in March, at first instance, to two months’ suspended prison sentence and 200 million CFA francs (445,500 Canadian dollars) in damages.
On appeal in May, and in the absence of Mr. Sonko, justice toughened the sentence: it confirmed the 200 million CFA francs in compensation, but increased the suspended imprisonment to six months, a sentence widely seen as excluding him from the February electoral contest.
This sentence was definitively recorded by the Supreme Court on Thursday evening.
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.
He has been imprisoned since the end of July on other charges, including calling for insurrection, and denounces all these affairs as plots aimed at removing him from the presidential election.
In mid-December, a judge relaunched the opponent’s candidacy by ordering his re-registration on the electoral lists, confirming a decision rendered in October by the Ziguinchor court (south) which had been overturned by the Supreme Court.