Death toll mounts as unrests flare in Senegal

The death toll in the Senegal violence has risen to 15 as support­ers of convicted opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, and police con­tinued to clash, the government said on Saturday.

While Dakar was calmer on Saturday, clashes continued into the evening. In residential neigh­bourhoods, protesters threw rocks at police, barricaded roads and burned tyres.

The army patrolled the streets as police fired tear gas at the dem­onstrators, inspecting and detain­ing people deemed to be causing trouble.The clashes first broke out on Thursday, after Sonko was con­victed of corrupting youth, but acquitted on charges of raping a woman who worked at a massage parlour and making death threats against her.

Sonko, who did not attend his trial in Dakar, was sentenced to two years in prison. His lawyer said a warrant had not yet been issued for his arrest. Sonko came third in Senegal’s 2019 presidential election and is popular with the country’s youth.

His supporters maintain his legal troubles are part of a government effort to derail his candidacy in the 2024 presiden­tial election. Sonko is considered President Macky Sall’s main com­petition, and has urged President Sall to state publicly that he will not seek a third term in office.

The international community has called on Senegal’s govern­ment to resolve the tensions. Rights groups have condemned the government crackdown, which has included arbitrary arrests and restrictions on social media.

Some social media sites used by demonstrators to incite violence, such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter, have been suspended for nearly two days. They have blamed the government for the violence and the loss of lives.

Corrupting young people, which includes using one’s position of power to have sex with people below the age of 21, is a criminal offence in Senegal, punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $6,000.

Under Senegalese law, Sonko’s conviction would bar him from running in next year’s election, said Bamba Cisse, another de­fence lawyer. However, the gov­ernment said Sonko could ask for a retrial once he was imprisoned. It was unclear when he would be taken into custody. —Aljazeera