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A six-month suspended sentence has on Monday been handed by a Senegalese court to Ousmane Sonko who is an opposition figure in an appeal of a defamation case that could compromise his run for president next year.
The court thereafter also ordered Sonko to pay 200 million CFA francs (around $330,000) in damages to Niang.
Sonko has refused to make himself available at the proceedings held on Monday on the account that until his safety is guaranteed, he would no longer respond to court summonses.
It was reported by an AFP reporter that when the appeal opened, Sonko was absent in the court.
A Prosecutor general Ibrahima Bakhoum had requested that the court have Sonko arrested and jailed for two years.
It is clear that the court cases against him would ruin his chances in 2024 as he intends to have a re-run in the presidential election.
Sonko had received a two-month suspended sentence and a hefty fine in March for defaming Tourism Minister Mame Mbaye Niang and a Dakar appeals court increased the term to six months on Monday, potentially making Sonko ineligible for the vote.
Baboucar Cisse, a lawyer for the minister, affirmed that the ruling of the court would prevent Sonko’s presidential bid by 2024 if confirmed following a six-day period for appeals.
Consequently, he is also facing trial later this month for alleged “rape and death threats” over and complaint filed by an employee at a beauty salon where he went for a massage.
Sonko earlier highlighted on social media Sunday that he has never seen a situation when a citizen is summoned to court, who thereafter turns and an attempt almost at himself in, to be subject of fierceness with so much brutality and an attempt almost at physical liquidation.
He referred to his claim of assassination in March as judicial banditry while explaining why he has decided not to collaborate with the judiciary with security guarantees.
In his response to his appeal to his defamation conviction, Sonko denied the rape charge, stressing he is the victim of a conspiracy by President Macky Sall to destroy his 2024 candidacy.
While reacting to Sonko’s claims, the government has denied the accusation, while affirming that those are one of his plans to avoid justice.
Whenever Sonko is to appear in the court, there is usually tension and near-paralysis of traffic in Dakar, as he usually travels to court with a procession of sympathisers.
The rape charge against Sonko in 2021 helped trigger riots that left at least 12 people dead in the West African country, which is viewed as politically stable in a turbulent region.
Mosunmola Ogi-olu
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