Senegal court gives opposition leader suspended term
Dakar, Senegal (AFP):
A Senegal court on Thursday handed a two-month suspended sentence to opposition leader Ousmane Sonko in a libel case.
His lawyers say the sentence does not rule him out of the 2024 presidential election.
The 48-year-old was found guilty of defaming Tourism Minister Mame Mbaye Niang, a member of President Macky Sall’s party.
“With two months suspended Sonko is still eligible,” lawyers Bamba Cisse and Cheikh Khoureyssi Ba said.
The claim could not be immediately confirmed by AFP.
Senegal has lived another tense week with the resumption of the trial, with Sonko and his supporters accusing the government of using the justice system to try to prevent him from running in next year’s election.
The presidential party accuses Sonko, who came third in the last vote in 2019, of seeking to paralyse the country and of drumming up anger on the streets in a bid to escape justice.
Police were deployed in large numbers in the capital Dakar and had on Wednesday fired tear gas during clashes with students trying to hold a demonstration.
The court also ordered Sonko to pay 200 million CFA francs (300,000 euros) to the minister who accused him of defaming him in relation to his management of a community agriculture programme.
Have Your Say!
Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story? Please share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@soundvision.com.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a Muslim Network TV’s representative. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
Tweet: @MuslimNetworkTV
We must take charge of our narrative. Research indicates that 92% of their Muslim coverage is negative. Help us change that.
