Senegal Top Court Upholds Opposition Leader’s Conviction
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(Bloomberg) -- Senegal’s top court upheld the country’s main opposition leader’s libel conviction, dimming Ousmane Sonko’s chances of being able to run for president in elections next month.
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The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a six-month suspended prison sentence against Sonko for accusing Tourism Minister Mame Mbaye Niang of embezzlement.
Sonko made the remarks against Niang in a 2022 televised address, but was only charged in March last year. Two months later, a Dakar court extended his suspended sentence from two months to six months, putting his candidacy at risk.
A suspended prison sentence of six months would preclude him as a candidate from the presidential race, under Senegal’s electoral code.
The 49-year-old former tax inspector has been entangled in a series of legal battles as his popularity rose among Senegalese voters. Authorities removed him from the electoral roll following his conviction in absentia for morally corrupting a young woman. In July, he was accused of fomenting an insurrection and is currently in prison awaiting trial.
Sonko has denied wrongdoing, saying the charges are politically motivated. The government has denied allegations that it’s using the judiciary to get Sonko disqualified from the race.
Civil liberties have deteriorated to such an extent in Senegal that it now ranks as poorly as countries run by military juntas, according to CIVICUS Monitor, an advocacy group that monitors rights globally. The decline comes after President Macky Sall’s administration sought to stifle dissent in the lead-up to Feb. 25 presidential elections, the group said.
Sonko is widely seen as the strongest challenger to Sall’s chosen successor, Prime Minister Amadou Ba.
The Constitutional Court is set to review Sonko’s candidacy application Friday and announce the final slate of presidential aspirants on Jan. 20.
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