Senegal’s opposition has called for a fresh rally in the capital Dakar on Saturday, days after the arrest of a rival to the president sparked the West African nation’s worst unrest in years.
At least five people were killed in clashes between opposition supporters and security forces, which were sparked on Wednesday last week by the arrest of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, a government critic popular with young people.
The violence, which the opposition has said claimed 11 lives, came as a shock in a country that is usually seen as a haven of stability in an otherwise volatile region.
Photo: AP
Tensions only began to ease on Monday after a court freed Sonko from detention.
The 46-year-old was nonetheless also charged with rape, in a case that he claims was trumped up to smear him.
On Tuesday, an opposition collective that includes Sonko’s Pastef Party called for a peaceful demonstration in Dakar on Saturday, to press for the release of what it termed “political prisoners.”
The collective known as the Movement for Defence of Democracy, or M2D, also called for a day of mourning tomorrow, urging people to wear white to commemorate dead protesters.
On Tuesday, parts of Dakar where protesters had hurled stones at police and torched vehicles returned to calm, although military vehicles remained in position in the government quarter.
“I think things are going to calm down because Sonko has been released. He was unjustly arrested,” said Grace Baramoto, a 37-year-old housewife who stayed home for two days to avoid the turmoil.
Sonko came third in the 2019 presidential election and is considered a contender to replace Senegalese President Macky Sall in 2024.
However, his political future was last month thrown into doubt after a beauty salon employee accused him of raping her.
Then, on Wednesday last week, Sonko was arrested on charges of disturbing public order, after his supporters clashed with police while he was making his way to court for the rape case.
The government’s move sparked a violent backlash that saw protesters clash with police and loot supermarkets, highlighting long-simmering grievances over living standards and inequality in the poor nation.
Military vehicles and police squadrons flooded Dakar on Monday ahead of Sonko’s court hearing, which had been postponed, and thousands of protesters rallied on a central square in the seaside city.
Speaking after his release, Sonko said: “The revolution has already started and nobody can stop it.”
He urged Senegalese to keep demonstrating, saying that protests should be “much larger,” but also peaceful.
Addressing the situation on Monday evening, Sall appealed to protesters to “avoid the logic of confrontation that leads to the worst.”
The courts should be left to do their job “in all independence,” he added.
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
RSS