The United Nations and African Union have called for calm after the sentencing of opposition politician Ousmane Sonko sparked some of the deadliest violence in recent years.
Authorities deployed the army on the streets of the capital, Dakar, and other towns as the death toll rose to 10. Nine people were killed on Thursday after Sonko was sentenced to two years in prison on charges of harming the youth, which may prevent him. from the run-up to the 2024 presidential elections.
Another person was killed in fresh clashes on Friday in the restive southern region of Casamance when demonstrators attacked a police barracks, a government spokesman told TFM television.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the violence and “urged all those involved to … exercise restraint”, a spokesman said.
The AU said the president of its commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, strongly condemned the violence and urged leaders to refrain from the acts, which “tarnish the face of Senegal’s democracy, which Africa has always been proud of”.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) called on all parties to “defend the commendable reputation of the country as a bastion of peace and stability”.
The European Union and Senegal’s former colonial power France have also expressed concern over the violence.
Senegalese government spokesman Abdou Karim Fofana said the violence was not motivated by “political demands” but “acts of vandalism and banditry”.
“These are difficult times for the country of Senegal that we will overcome,” he told TFM.
Social media is limited
Several social media and messaging platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter have been blocked to limit online communications, with the government saying it is restricting access to stop “the spread of hateful and subversive messages”. message”.
However, rights group Amnesty International condemned the restrictions, describing them as an attack on freedom of expression.
“We condemn the restrictions on access to social media by the Senegalese authorities in the face of violent protests,” Samira Daoud, Amnesty International’s regional director for West and Central Africa, said in a statement.
“These restrictions on the right to freedom of expression and information constitute arbitrary measures that are against international law, and cannot be justified for security reasons,” he added.
The NGO Reporters Without Borders also called on the authorities to fully restore internet access.
“Sociopolitical violence should not be used as an excuse to suppress the right to information,” it said.
Christopher Fomunyoh, from the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, said there was a clear political motivation in the legal cases against Sonko.
“Senegalese have a culture of dialogue and attachment to their freedoms, and now we see politically motivated demonstrations that cause [loss of] Lives are absolutely unacceptable and never have been,” he told Al Jazeera.
“On the one hand, the government is now sending the Senegalese military into the streets – something that has never happened before – and on the other hand, Sonko and his supporters are very determined to use the streets to make their voices heard. voice,” he continued.
“My hope is that the Senegalese leaders of religion and civil society can act and try to mediate between the two sides that ultimately have to make concessions and create an enabling environment for meaningful, inclusive and reliable presidential election to be held in February 2024.”
Qualification questions
Sonko was charged with rape and making death threats against an employee of a beauty salon in Dakar in 2021.
However, the court acquitted him of these charges and convicted him of “harming” a person under the age of 21, without clarifying the immoral acts he allegedly committed.
Under the electoral code, the ruling appears to make him ineligible for next year’s election.
Sonko has maintained his innocence and claimed the president was trying to frame him to exclude him from next year’s election – a charge the government denies.
The case is particularly divisive in Senegal, normally a bastion of stability in West Africa.
Sonko, who is being tried in absentia, has not yet been jailed for his detention, which is likely to cause more tension.
Sonko is believed to be staying at his home in Dakar, where he has been blocked by security forces since the weekend. He alleged that he was “illegally held”.