The Senegalese justice rendered its decision on Wednesday concerning the alleged attack on a beauty salon employee where the opposition leader had gone for a massage in 2021.
Since then, the case has been a source of tension. His arrest linked to the rape complaint and death threats filed against him sparked several days of protests in March of that year that ended in riots and looting. At least twelve people lost their lives there.
Ousmane Sonko, who came third in the 2019 presidential election and is a candidate considered well-placed for 2024, is the president of the Patriots of Senegal party for work, ethics, and fraternity.
Appreciated by young voters in Senegal, more than half of whom are under the age of 20, Sonko denounces a political plot orchestrated by President Macky Sall to oust him. An accusation denied by the head of state.
One of Ousmane Sonko’s lawyers stressed that the order was subject to appeal and affirmed the lawyers’ intention to appeal.