On Thursday, there were further clashes between police and protesters in Dakar, the city of Senegal, ahead of a court case involving opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who has acquired a lot of support from the young of the West African nation.
As hundreds of Sonko followers followed the trucks transporting him to court for the resumption of a libel case against him, police shot tear gas at them and they were attacked by protesters who also threw rocks at them. According to the reporters, a sizable supermarket was set on fire.
The 48-year-old Sonko is also accused of raping a worker at a beauty parlor and threatening to kill her in 2021. He claims that the accusations are politically driven and that he is innocent of all wrongdoing.
After two years of deadly bloodshed, the nation’s reputation as a bulwark of democracy and stability in a volatile area has been damaged.
President Macky Sall, who has infuriated many by refusing to rule out running for a third term in office, is the subject of a large portion of the rage. Senegal’s constitution only permits two terms, but others worry that Sall will reset his mandate in light of a recent change, imitating other regional leaders who have done the same thing to increase their hold on power.