Amnesty International condemns social media suspension in Senegal

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA): Amnesty International condemned Senegalese authorities Friday for restricting social media networks following protests against the sentencing of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko to a two-year jail term.

Police used tear gas late Thursday to disperse deadly protests that erupted in the national capital of Dakar and other towns after Sonko, president of the PASTEF-Patriots party, was sentenced for “corrupting” the youth.

Samira Daoud, Amnesty International’s regional director for West and Central Africa, said in a statement that the restriction on social media was 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. These restrictions on the right to freedom of expression and information constitute arbitrary measures contrary to international law, and cannot be justified by security reasons,” she said.

Meanwhile, Abdourahmane Diouf, the leader of the opposition Awale party, said Sonko’s case is politically motivated.

The case is a result of “phobia” of political competition and President Macky Sall is “using justice as an instrument to eliminate Sonko from the presidential race,” Diouf told Anadolu.

The leader of the opposition Rewmi party, Idrissa Seck, urged national unity in a letter addressed to Sall.

“Today, we have an urgency: to restore order and to give our full support to our valiant defense and security forces, in charge of restoring order and serenity in our streets, without brutality, a very difficult exercise in the face of threats,” said Seck, a former minister who quit Sall’s government to run for the presidency.

At least nine people were killed in clashes, and public and private properties were vandalized in Senegal following the sentencing of Sonko.

‘Social networks used to incite violence’

Interior Minister Antoine Felix Diome said at a news conference in Dakar on Friday that the deaths occurred in the city and southern Ziguinchor.

He said the government has decided to “temporarily suspend access to certain digital applications and social networks used to incite violence and hatred, which could exacerbate the already tense situation.”

Diome urged calm, assuring the nation that the government has taken necessary measures to ensure the safety of people and property.

Justice Minister Ismaila Madior Fall told reporters that Sonko could be arrested at any time.

Sonko was charged with rape and making death threats against Adji Sarr, an employee of a beauty salon in Dakar in 2021.

The opposition leader denied the charges and boycotted the trial twice last month. Dakar High Court Judge Issa Ndiaye decided to proceed in absentia.

On Thursday, the court acquitted Sonko of the rape charges but sentenced him to two years for “corrupting the youth”, disqualifying him from running in the presidential elections.

Sonko finished third in the 2019 election against Sall. During the trial, he said the case against him is politically motivated to prevent him from running in 2024.