Senegalese President Macky Sall has been served with a 170-page complaint.
Ousmane Sonko, his primary opponent, has filed a criminal complaint in France for alleged “crimes against humanity” committed between March 2021 and June 2023.
During a news conference on Thursday (June 22), Sonko’s lawyer laid down the allegations.
Lawyer for Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, Juan Branco
“For the past month we have been conducting a lengthy investigation with the participation of hundreds of Senegalese, whom I would like to thank, French lawyer Juan Branco said.
“[They were] citizens, civil servants, people working in all of the country’s administrations who have provided us with evidence, documents, contracts, videos, testimonies, that have enabled us to establish the existence of 60 crimes of murder considered to be crimes against humanity.”
During the press conference, French-Spanish lawyer Juan Branco displayed films and images, some of which had terrible footage of Senegalese demonstrators being murdered or gravely injured during the deadly riots earlier in June.
While the government claims 16 deaths in June, Amnesty International reports 23 deaths while the opposition claims 30.
Sonko claims that deadly clashes following his prison sentence this month are the next phase in Senegal’s “generalized and systematic attack on the civilian population” since March 2021.
He was convicted of “corrupting the youth” and sentenced to two years in prison. A beauty salon employee accused him of rape and death threats.
The tragic protests following the court’s judgement are the deadliest in Senegal in years, following a previous outburst two years ago that killed at least 12 people.
Sonko’s case also names Senegal’s Interior Minister Antoine Diome, military police director Moussa Fall, and 112 others in addition to the president.
His criminal complaint has been filed with the crimes against humanity unit of the Paris tribunal.
According to the complaint, Sall and Diome have “ordered and supervised the commision” of crimes “against unarmed demonstrators” since March 2021, including “murders, torture, and forced disappearances.”
Sonko also urged that the International Criminal Court (ICC) conduct an investigation.
He makes use of a provision that allows any individual or group to request that an investigation be launched.
Senegal, which is preparing for a presidential election in 2024, is tense.
Sonko, who is sharp-tongued and charming, has a big following among Senegal’s youth, who enjoy his jabs at the political class he refers to as the “state mafia.”
He proclaimed his intention to run in the elections next year, but his conviction may preclude him from doing so.
President Macky Sall, who came to power in 2012 on a wave of outrage over his predecessor Abdoulaye Wade’s bid for a third term, has refused to rule out a similar move.
Protesters opposing Sall were driven back by police personnel on the outskirts of Paris on Thursday (June 22), where the Senegalese President is attending an international gathering.
Macky Sall called the legal complaint “ridiculous”.
Tax inspector turned politican
Sonko established his PASTEF-Les Patriotes political party in 2014.
However, he rose to fame two years later after being sacked from his tax inspector job for publicly blasting shady public-sector contracts and criticising the political establishment.
Sonko took the next step up the political ladder in 2017, when he was elected MP, and he followed that up with an amazing run in the presidential elections in 2019.
Running against senior opponents on an anti-establishment ticket, he finished third with 15% of the vote, an unexpectedly impressive showing for such a newbie.
Sonko’s attitude “is the antithesis of our democratic culture and traditions,” according to Yoro Dia, one of the president’s advisers.
Divisive personality
Dia believes Sonko is inciting violence in order to avoid prosecution.
Sonko, he called “the Trojan Horse of the Salafists,” whose fundamentalist, ultra-orthodox style of Islam contrasts with Senegal’s more moderate Sufi mysticism.
Sonko was born in Casamance’s volatile southern region.
Sall has been pursuing Sonko for the past five years, according to Amadou Badji, a 75-year-old pensioner in the region’s largest town of Ziguinchor, “simply because he raises hope.”
However, Algassim Diallo, a 33-year-old coffee vendor, stated that “the country has been held captive for the past two years by a rape story… “It’s past time to move on.”
