The removal of Senegal’s imprisoned opposition politician Ousmane Sonko from the electoral records was overruled by a judge in the southern town of Ziguinchor on Thursday evening, preventing him from running for president, according to his attorneys and disbanded party.
Sonko, who finished third in the 2019 presidential election, could run for office again in February 2024, according to his attorneys. However, the State’s judicial representative stated in a statement that the State would appeal the judge’s ruling and that Mr. Sonko might still not be a candidate.
In Ziguinchor, the town where Mr. Sonko is mayor and where he was registered, a court heard a challenge to his disbarment on Thursday. A portion of the press described this action as the rival’s final opportunity to run for office.
The court “declared Mr. Ousmane Sonko’s removal from the electoral rolls null and void and ordered his reinstatement, which should take immediate effect”, one of his defenders, Me Ciré Clédor Ly, said in a message on Friday.
“The Ziguinchor district court ruled on the law and only on the law (…) There was no justification for removing President Ousmane Sonko from the electoral rolls,” said El Malick Ndiaye, a leading figure in Mr. Sonko’s dissolved party.
On June 1, Mr. Sonko was convicted guilty of defiling a minor and given a two-year prison term. He declined to show up for the trial, which he claimed was an attempt to prevent him from running for office. As a result, he was found guilty in absentia.
At the end of July, Mr. Sonko was detained on additional allegations, including inciting rebellion, criminal membership with a terrorist organisation, and damaging national security.
The authorities are examining his involvement in a string of violent protest outbursts since 2021, the most significant of which occurred in June and left many people dead.
