Nine dead as protests rock Senegal after Sonko jail sentence

At least nine people were killed in Senegal in clashes between riot police and supporters of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko following a court sentencing him to two years in jail, the country’s interior ministry said, Report informs, citing Al Jazeera.

Clashes broke out after Thursday’s verdict, which may disqualify Sonko, President Macky Sall’s fiercest opponent, from contesting next year’s presidential election.
Cars and buses were set alight in the capital, Dakar, and disturbances were reported elsewhere, including in the city of Ziguinchor, where Sonko has been mayor since 2022.

“We have noted, with regret, violence that has led to the destruction of public and private property and, unfortunately, nine deaths in Dakar and Ziguinchor,” Interior Minister Antoine Diome said on national television on Friday.

Sonko, 48, did not attend the hearing over an alleged sexual assault where he was accused of raping a woman who worked in a massage parlour in 2021, when she was 20, and making death threats against her. He denied wrongdoing and said the charges were politically motivated.