My latest on Senegal for RFI English:
President Sall's refusal to discuss new mandate is source of tension - opposition
Senegal’s President Macky Sall has not yet clarified whether he will run for a third mandate in the next presidential elections or not. Opposition presidential candidate Idrissa Seck blames the recent violence on Sall's failure to make his intentions clear.
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Text by: Melissa Chemam with RFI
On Monday morning, Dakar had returned to relative calm after four days of protests and violence.
While the presidential camp blames the protesters, the opposition has denounced what it describes as an "abuse of power".
Opponent and presidential candidate Idrissa Seck is calling for calm, and on the Senegalese President, Macky Sall, to clarify his intentions for the next presidential election, in order to avoid more violence.
He told RFI that "the problem with a third term is that even the prospect of it is causing turmoil."
He added: "We are seeing violence and upheaval in our typically peaceful streets. We have seen death. This is not good for our people. Nor is it good for Senegal's global reach. This situation will only worsen if President Macky Sall announces a bid for a third term. It would be unprecedented and deeply damaging for Senegal."
Protesters are angry that President Macky Sall has refused to rule out running for a third term while Senegal has a two-term presidential limit.
Call to stop the violence
At least 16 people are known to have died in the clashes between demonstrators and security forces in the capital, Dakar, and in Zinguinchor in the region of Casamance, in the south of the country.
The Red Cross in Senegal claimed yesterday that almost 360 people were injured in the violence.
The violence broke out on Thursday after the opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who is the mayor of Zinghinchor, was sentenced to two years in prison.
Sonko's supporters say his conviction on charges of "corrupting" a young woman are politically motivated and designed to prevent him from running for president.
They have condemned what they called the "murderous repression" by the national security forces.
Sonko's party, the PASTEF, has also condemned the restriction to the mobile internet by the government, to stop what it called "subversive messages" from being shared.
Difficult dialogue
According to Idrissa Seck, who was the head of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council in Senegal until late April, only Sall's clear indication that he will not run for a third term will appease the Senegalese people, especially young people.
"I pray, I believe and expect that President Sall will not run at all," he added.
In April, Seck announced that he intends to run for president in Senegal's next election, scheduled for February 2024.
He is taking part in the "national dialogue", opened by the President Sall last Thursday, which most of the other opposition parties are boycotting, including Sonko.
Seck told RFI that "the priority should be to protect democracy", and hopes to rally the opposition around him.
Now 63, Seck was prime minister of Senegal from November 2002 to July 2004, and placed second in the 2019 presidential election.
"It's the priority of the government to maintain peace and stability," Seck concluded. "So, I call all opposition leaders to focus on that too."
(with newswires)
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Senegal's opposition leader Ousmane Sonko sentenced to 2 years in prison
Ousmane Sonko, a prominent opposition candidate in Senegal's 2024 presidential election, has been sentenced to prison on charges of "corrupting youth", in a case he maintains is intended to stop him running.
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A court in Dakar sentenced Sonko to two years' imprisonment for the offence, but acquitted him of other charges of rape and issuing death threats.
The verdict was announced on Thursday morning at Darkar's main courthouse, following the trial on 23 May.
Sonko was not present at either.
The case, which Sonko's supporters maintain is politically motivated, has deeply divided Senegal and sparked repeated protests.
Controversial case
Sonko, 48, was accused of raping and threatening a woman who worked at a beauty salon in Dakar. The woman, 20, said she had been abused five times by the politician.
Sonko claimed she was a "young girl who has been manipulated, promised a diplomatic passport and exile abroad, as well as large sums of money".
If he had been convicted of rape in absentia, Sonko would have been stripped of his electoral rights.
"Corrupting youth" – debauching or encouraging the debauchery of a person under the age of 21 – is a lesser offence than rape, lawyer Ousmane Thiam told AFP news agency.
But his conviction still threatens to rule him out of next year's vote.
"With this two-year sentence, Ousmane Sonko cannot be a candidate in the 2024 presidential election – it is a sentence of ineligibility," one of his lawyers, Bamba Cissé, told journalists outside the courtroom.
Arrest and unrest
Sonko's Pastef party called the verdict the "ultimate step in [President] Macky Sall's plot against Sonko", who they consider to be the main rival to the incumbent.
In a statement, the party called on its supporters to "stay mobilised", as tensions rose in Dakar and Sonko's stronghold of Ziguinchor, in the Casamance region.
Another presidential candidate, former prime minister Idrissa Seck, told RFI that he “trusted the Senegalese justice system to handle the trial”, while encouraging Sall not to run for president again next year.
The court also sentenced Sonko's co-accused, Ndeye Khady Ndiaye, the owner of the beauty salon where Sonko was accused of repeated abuse, to two years' imprisonment.
The public prosecutor must now decide whether to order Sonko's arrest.
Sonko was temporarily detained on Sunday while leading supporters on a march from Zighinchor towards the capital.
© MU HAMADOU BITTAYE / AFP
He complained of being "kidnapped" by the security forces, which the government denied.
Interior Minister Antoine Diome, speaking on Senegal's public broadcaster RTS, said that Sonko had not been arrested but rather "dropped off" at his home in Dakar, to avoid more unrest among his supporters.
He added that Sonko should have requested authorisation before organising his "freedom caravan".
- Senegal's Sonko claims he is being 'illegally held' as 'national dialogue' opens
- Senegal launches military operation against southern Casamance rebels
Rebels in Casamance, a region geographically separated from the rest of Senegal by the Gambia, have been seeking regional independence for more than 35 years.
Sonko is mayor of Ziguinchor, the capital of the region.
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