APA-Dakar (Senegal) The President of the Republic Macky Sall has not ruled out the idea of his main opponent being released from prison as part of the ongoing efforts to pacify the political landscape.
Will Ousmane Sonko soon regain his freedom? In an interview with the local press on Thursday 22 February 2024, the Senegalese head of state assured them that he would not be opposed to such a possibility.
“I have always said that I call for an all-inclusive dialogue. And I am convinced that if we want our country to continue to move forward harmoniously, we need to reconcile, whatever the offences and crimes that have brought people to justice. With this in mind, no one should be excluded, and as soon as the facts can be cleared up, anyone could benefit from this clemency,” he declared.
President Sall made it clear that he was “looking at the country, (…) not at one person.” According to him, his objective “is to be a Head of State (…) as for provisional release for Ousmane Sonko and Diomaye, he said it’s possible, but it will depend on their lawyers and the courts.” Bassirou Diomayz Faye, the right-hand man of Ousmane Sonko, whose candidacy was invalidated, is the candidate of the Senegalese African Patriots for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (PASTEF), a party that the two men founded together before being dissolved by the authorities.
Ousmane Sonko has been in prison since July 2023. The opposition politician was arrested at his home after being sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for corrupting young people, while on trial for rape and death threats against a young masseuse. He was also the subject of another court case, in which he was accused of defamation by Tourism Minister Mame Mbaye Niang. In this case, the unsuccessful candidate in the 2019 presidential election was given a six-month suspended sentence by the Dakar Court of Appeal, which increased the two-month suspended sentence handed down at first instance.
A few days before the publication of the final list of candidates for the presidential election, Ousmane Sonko has been rejected by the Supreme Court. As a result, his candidacy for the finally postponed presidential election on 25 February has been definitively compromised. Also in prison, Faye was charged on 14 April 2023 with contempt of court, defamation and acts likely to jeopardise the public peace, because of his virulent and repeated criticism of the way in which the justice system had handled the cases in which his friend, Ousmane Sonko, was involved. But unlike Sonko, Bassirou Diomaye Faye has not yet been tried or convicted. This preserves his right to be
stand for president.
ARD/ac/fss/APA