A prominent figure in the Senegalese opposition was released on bail pending a rape trial in a case that sparked mass outrage in President Macky Sall’s government and led to the worst unrest in a decade.
Ousmane Sonko, a charismatic 46-year-old opposition leader and MP who finished third in the 2019 presidential election, was arrested last Wednesday after a beauty salon employee accused him of raping her.
He denies the charge and his supporters believe it is the latest in a line of orchestrated movements to prevent popular figures like Sonko from challenging Sall’s government in the elections.
Thousands of young people took to the streets last week, leaving at least eight dead in clashes between protesters and the police and paralyzing parts of the capital, Dakar. Many observers say the protesters are expressing broader frustrations about unemployment, inequality and corruption in one of West Africa’s most stable democracies.
Senegalese parliamentarians obtain immunity from controversially granted detention, fueling accusations that Sonko’s detention was politically motivated. Two other prominent Sall rivals were previously the target of criminal charges that prevented them from running for president in 2019.
Sonko, a former presidential candidate and government tax inspector, galvanized many Senegalese, especially young people. He gained prominence in 2015 after releasing documents that he said exposed political corruption in Sall’s ruling party, Alliance for the Republic, and criticized Senegal’s economic dependence and its relationship with the former colonial power, France.
Military tanks patrolled the streets of Dakar on Monday morning in a show of strength. Groups of Sonko supporters from outside the court applauded the trial as a “partial victory”. Despite his release, the protests called by his Movement for Defending Democracy (M2D) party are expected to continue.
On Friday, at least four people died, according to police, including a 20-year-old student, amid an aggressive response by security forces who fired live shots and tear gas.
Video footage posted on social media over the weekend showed a police vehicle running towards a crowd of protesters and groups of men carrying batons that attacked the protesters. Some protesters were seen throwing stones and bottles at police officers, and some looted French-owned stores in a wealthy part of Dakar.
Several protesters and opposition supporters were arrested in a worrying crackdown by the authorities, according to Ousmane Diallo, an Amnesty International researcher in Senegal.
“There are serious concerns about the excessive and lethal use of force by security forces during … [the] protests, but also about arbitrary arrests of supporters of Ousmane Sonko in the previous weeks, ”he said. “Counter-demonstrators holding sticks and cudgels were seen in many places, attacking protesters while the police were watching,” he added.
Last Thursday, two independent TV stations were suspended for 72 hours by the media regulator, who accused them of reporting excessively about the protests in their coverage, a measure that Diallo said was “shocking to many in Senegal, a country that is proud of its respect for freedoms and freedoms, especially freedom of expression ”.
Social network users reported restrictions on Internet access on Senegalese networks. The use of Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp and Telegram plummeted last week, according to NetBlocks, an Internet watchdog.
Social media posts under the hashtag “FreeSenegal” are trending in Nigeria, Ghana and other countries on a continent where young populations are increasingly vocal in their opposition to political elites accused of suppressing democracy and changing constitutions to extend their mandates.
In 2010, Sall led mass protests when then-president Abdoulaye Wade sought a third term. Now, however, many of Sonko’s supporters are increasingly fearful that the president, an important French ally, is also looking to extend his own government beyond his second term – a perspective that West African leaders have increasingly embraced.
The economic suffering in part caused by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic has caused misery. Local markets and industries, such as tourism, are depressed and many are struggling to find work.
A 9 pm curfew affected Senegal’s bustling night economy, deepening resentment against the government. Sall maintains significant popularity after overseeing years of high economic growth before the pandemic, but his government has faced growing criticism for lack of progress in combating poverty and inequality, and policies favorable to imports seen to benefit French corporate interests.
Some protesters looted and vandalized French stores and gas stations in Senegal, as anti-government and anti-French sentiments spread through the streets.
The unrest and deep discontent shook the country. Sonko’s supporters called for three days of protests across the country this week, although his release may help ease tensions.