At least nine people have been killed in clashes in Senegal after a leading opposition politician was sentenced to two years in prison and threatened to run for president.
Riots erupted in Dakar and the southern town of Ziguinchor after Ziguinchor’s mayor, Osman Sonko, was acquitted of rape and death threats but found guilty of “corrupting youth”.
The government has blocked access to social media services it says are being used to incite violence.
“The Senegalese government has taken all measures to guarantee the safety of people and property,” Senegal’s Interior Minister Antoine Felix Abdoulaye Diome said on state television late Thursday. “We will strengthen the country’s safety everywhere.”
Sankoh was earlier acquitted by a Dakar court after an employee of a massage parlor accused her of repeatedly assaulting her in 2021. The 48-year-old woman did not attend the hearing, but no death threats were made against her.
But the court found him guilty of “corrupting youth”. AFP quoted one of his lawyers as saying that meant debauchery or encouraging debauchery for those under the age of 21.
Protests erupted after Sonko’s Senegalese African Patriots Work, Morality and Fraternity party urged his supporters to take to the streets following the verdict. Black smoke enveloped the city as demonstrators in Dakar threw stones and burned tires, according to local media reports. Riot police responded by firing tear gas.
There were also reports of attacks on companies, including French retail group Auchan and telecommunications company Orange. Protesters in Dakar ransacked the headquarters of state power company Senelec and a Total gas station, while a university building was set on fire. On Friday, the country’s national football team withdrew an announcement to name its team because of the violence.
Sonko is ready to challenge President Macky Sall in next February’s election. However, under Senegal’s electoral laws, people convicted of criminal offenses are not allowed to run for office.
Bamba Cisse, one of Sankoh’s lawyers, said the politician could not appeal because he was not present during the trial and sentencing. The government said he could appeal after being detained, but it was unclear whether a warrant had been issued for his arrest.
Sonko and his supporters say he is the victim of a politically motivated lawsuit aimed at eliminating his rivalry with Sall. The president is barred from seeking a third term, but his allies argue that a 2016 constitutional change would reset his term clock and allow him to run in elections in February 2024.