A memorandum has just been published on Tuesday by the party of Senegalese opponent Ousmane Sonko about the deadly violence that shook the country in early June. The toll given there of the number of victims is on the rise. Of about forty pages, this memorandum is a kind of reply to the “white paper” published on June 8 by the government in the direction of foreign diplomats in particular. Dakar delivered there “its share of truth” on the violence which occurred after the condemnation on June 1 of the opponent Sonko in a case of mores.
This “white paper riddled with faults and lies” is “an accusatory document against Ousmane Sonko” while this violence “comes under the historical and entire responsibility of President Macky Sall”, deputy Birame Soulèye Diop, a responsible for Pastef, the party of Mr. Sonko. The memorandum gives “a documented account to help understand what happened”, said Mr. Diop, in the absence of Mr. Sonko, blocked by the security forces at his home in Dakar, “sequestered” according to him , since May 28. The unrest resulted in “30 deaths”, including “4 bodies not yet identified. More than 80% of these victims were killed by gunshots. There are 157 wounded, including 15 by gunshot,” added Mr. Diop. The violence officially claimed 16 lives. The NGO Amnesty International said it had counted 23 dead.
On a state visit to Portugal, President Macky Sall chose to speak about the situation.
In his first public reaction to the unrest in early June, delivered in Lisbon, Macky Sall said after a meeting with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. “We will continue our march towards economic emergence and the consolidation of democracy and freedom in Senegal, respecting of course the rule of law. “I will ensure that Senegal remains within the most important democratic standards,” he insisted, as his government came under fire for its response to the unrest that rocked the country in early June. And to continue: “I will also ensure that our country is not destabilized, whatever the origin of this desire for destabilization. We will ensure this very vigorously, “warned the Senegalese president, elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2019, but who maintains the vagueness about his desire to run for a third term in 2024. “We have an economic profile which has become very attractive . We will start from this year the exploitation of oil and gas. That may also explain all this frenzy,” added Macky Sall.
As a reminder, after the conviction of the opponent Ousmane Sonko to two years in prison in a sex scandal, Senegal was the scene of violence from June 1 to 3 which left at least 16 dead according to the authorities, 23 according to the NGO Amnesty International and 30 according to the opposition. The conviction of Mr. Sonko to two years in prison makes him in the current state ineligible for the presidential election of 2024. A popular personality among young people and disadvantaged backgrounds, the opponent cries conspiracy. This conviction makes him currently ineligible for the 2024 presidential election and reinforces Mr. Sonko’s argument that this is a way to exclude him from the February 2024 presidential election, which power refutes.
