But where is Ousmane Sonko, the main Senegalese opponent? The blur persisted for several hours on Sunday, May 28. While his party, The African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (Pastef), was alarmed that its leader was “untraceable and unreachable”, the news was finally confirmed at the start of the evening.
Ousmane Sonko was intercepted by the security and defense forces in the afternoon, in Kaffrine (250 km from Dakar). His “caravan for freedom”, the name he had given to his convoy launched Friday, May 26 in Ziguinchor and which was to take him to the capital Dakar to lead a “final fight” against the Senegalese authorities, was thus interrupted halfway.
“He was not arrested but framed to his home in Cité Keur Gorgui, in Dakar,” said Interior Minister Antoine Félix Diome, live on the national channel RTS on Sunday evening. An important security device was erected in Mr. Sonko’s neighborhood, blocking the adjacent streets and effectively forcing the opposition leader to house arrest.
Prosecuted for repeated rapes
“The responsibility of the State being engaged in the guarantee of public order, we cannot let people gather without the minimum rules of supervision being respected”, justified Mr. Diome who, the day before, pointed out that such processions were subject to prior authorization, a request that Mr. Sonko had not made. According to the Minister of the Interior, the police discovered “weapons”, including “slingshots and marbles” during the search of the opponent’s vehicle.
“False statements,” said Aboubacar Top Sadikh, activist and member of the Pastef communication cell. “What wrong did Ousmane Sonko do?” If there is an offence, why was he not taken to the gendarmerie rather than being taken home? “, he is surprised. He deplores “an exacerbated use of force” on the part of the power which, according to him, “does not want such a strong opponent”.
Ousmane Sonko left Ziginchor on Friday May 26, accompanied by a dense crowd of supporters. He had taken refuge several weeks ago in this city of Casamance (south) of which he is mayor, while the trial in which he is prosecuted for repeated rapes opened in Dakar. During a river hearing on Tuesday, May 23, the complainant, Adji Sarr, a former employee of a massage parlor that Mr. Sonko frequented, reiterated her accusations, explaining how she believes the opponent had abused her five times. between December 2020 and February 2021.
Risk of ineligibility
Neither the accused, who explained that he had not received a summons and denounces a political “conspiracy”, nor his lawyers were present at the trial. The prosecutor requested ten years in prison for rape or at least five years in prison for “corruption of youth”. If convicted in the verdict expected on Thursday June 1, Mr. Sonko will also be ineligible for the February 2024 presidential election.
In this climate of high tension, his “freedom caravan” had been surrounded from the first day by clashes between his supporters and the security forces who several times used tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd. During the second stage of the convoy, Saturday May 27, a civilian died on the sidelines of the clashes in Kolda.
Through his spokesperson, Abdou Karim Fofana, the government promised firmness, warning that it “will not allow anyone to disturb public order” and accusing Mr. Sonko of using the street to escape the police. justice. In March 2021, the arrest of the opponent while he was on his way to a summons to justice had provoked violent riots, killing fourteen people and leading to major rampages in the country, in particular against French brands.