Sonko: 19 Killed As Protesters Clash With Police In Senegal

Tensions remained high in Senegal as civilians continued to protest over the imprisonment of the country main opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko.

19 persons have been killed since the unrest resorting to clashes between civilians and police among other security operatives began on Thursday, shortly after a court in Senegal convicted the political opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko and sentenced him to two years improvement.

The Court found Ousmane Sonko guilty of morally corrupting a woman in her youthful age, a sentence different from the initial charge of Rape leveled against the political opposition leader.

Ousmane Sonko, 48 years old, a former tax Inspector, was initially accused and charged for rape but the court convicted him on a lesser charge of morally corrupting a woman and sentenced him to two years imprisonment.

His conviction and sentencing may take him out of the 2024 presidential election which his supporters believed the court action is a political strategy to stop him from contesting in the forthcoming Senegal general elections.

The clashes between the civilians and police which continued overnights till Sunday brought the death toll to 19 in the four days unrest since the court convicted the opposition leader Ousmane Sonko on Thursday.

As day light fades and night falls, there were reports of security forces confronting looters and vandals.

Police had said on Saturday that the death toll from the anti-government protests in Senegal has risen to 15, as authorities in the capital Dakar began to clear up debris and secure looted shops after the days of unrest. But reports from Senegal on Sunday indicated that the death toll has increased to 19.

Some videos posted online showed protesters mounting military armoured vehicles with the military personnel controling the protesting crowds.

Residents said there is heavy present of the nation’s military personnel and other law enforcement agents in strategic locations maintaining law and order with a view to end the violent protest.

There were unconfirmed reports of Presidential cars being used to chase and shoot at protestors by paid mercenaries in Dakar.

Different groups of young demonstrators clashed with the police in various locations, resulting in property damage and street blockades.

Mbegte Mii, Twitter user on Saturday, said in quote: “Hello, can you help us amplify what’s going on in Senegal please. The government trying to shut down local medias and social media and we need #FreeSenegal and VPN to be able to connect to the internet. 9 people are already dead and more will come if they don’t stop the oppression!”

Social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter have been shut down, according to the residents in Dakar.

A press statement issued and credited to Senegal Ministry of Communication, Telecommunications and Digital Economy on Sunday indicated that all social media platforms were suspended via temporarily halting the usage of Internet of Mobile data in the country.

In quote, the Press Statement reads thus; “The Ministry of Communication, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy informs that due to the dissemination of hateful and subversive messages in a context of disturbance of public order in certain localities of the national territory, the Internet of mobile data is temporarily suspended during certain time slots. Telephone operators are required to comply with notified requisitions done in Dakar, June 04, 2023”

The death toll has surpassed the number killed in multi-day protests in 2021, when supporters of same opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko first took to the streets over the rape trial they said was politically motivated. Sonko denies any wrongdoing.

Mobs smashed windows and looted at least two gas station shops overnight in Dakar’s Ouakam and Ngor districts, while a supermarket in densely populated Grand Yoff was torched and ransacked. Rubble littered the roads that were scarred black by fires, according to local media reports.

Army troops were deployed to parts of the Senegalese capital Dakar on Friday as the city braced for more unrest that has resorted to one of the deadliest days of violence in the country’s recent history.

Nine people were killed in clashes between riot police and Sonko supporters on Thursday after he was sentenced to two years for morally corrupting a woman in her youthful age.

Ten others including security operatives were killed between Friday and Sunday.

One of the videos posted online showed a police personnel mobbed to death with stones as the crowd of protesters overpowered the anti riot security operatives.