Senegal’s government said it had arrested 15 people and foiled an attempted coup just hours before anti-government protests were set to begin on Saturday, but opposition leaders said the accusations were a way of undercutting the demonstrations.
Senegalese Minister of Justice Cheikh Tidiane Sy announced on state television late on Friday that the suspects wanted to target various sites, including downtown Dakar’s bustling Sandaga Market.
“The state prosecutor decided to nip the coup plot in the bud by arresting those individuals identified as members of the plot,” he said.
Luc Sarr, special adviser of the Alliance for the Republic, a member of the lead opposition coalition, said the arrests were unacceptable.
“These 15 students, they didn’t do anything. The government wanted to create pressure and a threat so that Senegalese wouldn’t come out and protest today,” Sarr said.
Popular frustration has been mounting in the moderate West African nation because of daily power cuts and rising costs. There is also growing discontent over octogenarian Sengalese President Abdoulaye Wade’s attempt to run for a third term next year, as well as the increasing influence of his son, Karim.
A sit-in at Dakar’s Place de l’Independance drew between 1,000 and 2,000 demonstrators on Saturday, primarily young men.
“We want things to go boom like in those other countries up there. We want the world to know that things aren’t working in Senegal. The power cuts are getting worse and worse. Everything is expensive,” 27-year-old college student Hilais Gomis said.
“We want Wade to know that the people want change and that we aren’t going to wait indefinitely. We are putting Wade on notice. If we need to use force, we will,” added Abybibou Kane, 40, a lawyer who came from about 50km outside Dakar for the sit-in.
Presidential spokesman Serigne Mbacke Ndiaye said that the protests “are a form of democratic expression.”
“They show the vitality of Senegal’s democracy. The important thing is that they take place in peace and security,” he said.
Though the demonstrations did not reach anywhere near the magnitude of those sweeping North Africa, they could prove a telling test of support for the country’s fractured opposition ahead of next year’s presidential elections.
The sit-in ended on schedule at 1pm, with straggling demonstrators burning a large photo of Wade and throwing stones at steadily advancing riot police as they left. There were no clashes between police and the protesters.
More demonstrations were planned in Dakar throughout the afternoon, including separate marches by both the leading opposition coalition and the president’s political party, and an anti-government rally organized by a rapper-led movement called “We’ve had enough.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese