DAKAR – Senegalese police clashed with protesters in several neighborhoods in the capital, Dakar, on Friday, including in front of a court where an opposition leader made his first appearance since his arrest on charges of rape.
A lawyer for Ousmane Sonko said he was being accused of rape and making threats, allegations that have led to clashes since his arrest on Wednesday between his supporters who threw stones and the police in several cities.
Four people died in the violence, Senegal’s interior minister, Antoine Felix Abdoulaye Diome, said on a national television broadcast on Friday, calling the protests “an organized uprising”.
Sonko, a 46-year-old tax inspector with many followers among young people, has denied wrongdoing and said the charges are part of a pattern by authorities to invent criminal charges to prevent opponents from running for election.
On Friday in Dakar, protesters threw stones and other objects at the security forces, set up barricades in the streets and burned tires and wreckage, while police fired tear gas and action grenades to evict them.
The authorities responded by restricting access to the Internet and suspending the broadcast by two private TV channels that covered the protests. On Friday, they also banned motorcycles and mopeds, popular with the young political base of Sonko, on the streets of the capital.
NetBlocks internet monitor said social media and messaging apps, including Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube, were restricted on Friday morning. In preparation for the violence, some schools and stores were closed.
The police with full protective equipment guarded the court while Sonko appeared before a judge. The hearing will resume on Monday.
The United Nations representative in the region, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, in a statement on Friday called for moderation and calm, and asked the Senegalese government to “take the necessary steps to ease tensions”.
One resident said the coronavirus pandemic curfew and general dissatisfaction with President Macky Sall also fueled public anger.
“I don’t think things are going to stay calm. People are getting up,” said fashion worker Souleymane Diallo, 24.
The interior minister said the government plans to ease restrictions on coronavirus soon, as the West African nation began vaccinating against Covid-19 last week.
A beauty salon employee accused Sonko last month of raping her. Parliament withdrew Sonko’s immunity as a legislator last week.
The opposition fears the case is an attempt by Sall to remove a potentially popular rival if he decides to seek a third term in 2024.
Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics
Other rivals have been the target of criminal charges in the past, including former Dakar mayor Khalifa Sall and Karim Wade, son of former president Abdoulaye Wade, eliminating them from the 2019 presidential race.
The government denies the political motivations behind the case. Sall, 59, in power since 2012, has not commented on reports that he may seek a third term, despite the constitutional limit of two terms.
Amnesty International has expressed concern about how the authorities have dealt with the situation, citing a wave of arrests, the use of real weapons and the suspension of broadcasters.