By Oyintari Ben
Ousmane Sonko, the head of the opposition in Senegal, was found guilty on Thursday of influencing young people, but cleared on the counts of raping and threatening to kill a massage parlour employee.
The judge gave Sonko a two-year prison term. He was found guilty in his absence after missing his trial in the nation’s capital, Dakar. According to his attorney, no arrest warrant for the politician has yet been issued.
Lawyer Cire Cledor Ly said that the government intended to bar him from running in the upcoming presidential election with this ruling.
Sonko finished third in the 2019 presidential election in Senegal, and he and his supporters contend that the government is trying to thwart his chances of winning the 2024 election. Sonko is viewed as President Macky Sall’s primary rival.
As stated in Senegalese law, Sonko would be ineligible to run in the election the following year, said Bamba Cisse, another defence attorney.
“The conviction for corruption of youth hinders his eligibility because he was sentenced in absentia, so we can’t appeal,” Cisse stated.
Before the judgement, unease was spreading throughout the nation due to worries that Sonko’s supporters would strengthen their protests and endanger the democracy of the nation.
During a “freedom caravan” organised by Sonko last week from his hometown of Ziguinchor, where he is the mayor, to the capital, which is located some 750 kilometres (465 miles) away, at least one person was killed, and several others were injured. Demonstrations grew violent in the days before the trial.
