Pussy Riot
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Death toll in violent Senegalese protests rise to ten following conviction of opposition leader charged with statutory rape of under 21 female
One more person was killed in Senegal on Friday, as police and protesters clashed for a second day since the sentencing of opposition politician Ousmane Sonko sparked some of the deadliest violence in recent memory.
Nine people died in clashes between police and Sonko supporters on Thursday after he was sentenced to two years in prison on charges of corrupting youth. The opposition says the verdict, which could prevent Sonko from running in elections next year, was politically motivated.
Rowdy crowds of protesters in face covers, some wielding spades, set tires and debris on fire, squaring up to police in various districts of the capital, Dakar.
Mobs have attacked supermarkets, shops, banks, police stations and public transport networks.
Similar scenes were reported in other parts of the country on Friday. Interior ministry spokesperson Maham Ka said another person was killed in the southern town of Cap Skirring, where protesters targeted a gendarmerie, bringing the death toll up to 10.
Sonko, 48, was accused of raping a woman who worked in a massage parlour in 2021, when she was 20, and making death threats against her.
A criminal court cleared Sonko of rape, but found him guilty of an offence described in the penal code as immoral behaviour towards individuals younger than 21. He denies wrongdoing.
Many, especially the young, strongly support him.
“If demonstrations had remained peaceful … there would be no issue,” he said, describing the protests as “gratuitous violence” and congratulating security forces for their interventions.
Several social media and messaging platforms have been restricted to limit online communications.
Thursday and Friday’s riots were the latest bout in months of violence in Senegal, long considered one of West Africa’s strongest democracies, sparked by Sonko’s court case as well as concerns that President Macky Sall will try to bypass a two-term limit and run again in February elections.
Sall has neither confirmed nor denied this.
The United Nations, the African Union and West Africa’s main regional bloc have condemned the violence. France urged restraint and dialogue to resolve the crisis.
Source Reuters/AFP
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