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Burning tires briefly blocked the VDN (northern clearance lane) one of Dakar’s main axes, Wednesday, November 10 afternoon, in the middle of rush hour. They had been lit by activists who demanded the release of three opposition figures: Ousmane Sonko, leader of the Pastef, Malick Gakou ex-minister and president of the Grand Party, and Barthélémy Dias, candidate for mayor of the Senegalese capital.
All three had been arrested a little earlier in the day, while Barthéméy Dias went to court for an appeal hearing in a murder case dating back to 2011. Scattered by tear gas from the gendarmerie at the end of the day, the protesters quickly calmed down after the news of the three men ‘s release was announced.
This shocked day comes at the launch of an electoral sequence at high risk for the government: municipal and departmental elections on January 23, 2022, which will constitute the first electoral test since the re-election of Macky Sall to the presidential election of 2019, then the legislative elections in July. . It also rekindles the specter of the deadly clashes in March which took place under comparable circumstances.
“A plot”
Wednesday’s incidents are no surprise. For a few days now, Barthélémy Dias has been calling on his fiery supporters to “Invade the court” the day of its convocation. Mayor of a district municipality in the capital, he must be tried on appeal with other defendants for the death in 2011 of Ndiaga Diouf. This wrestler described as a henchman of the regime of ex-president Abdoulaye Wade (2000-2012), had been shot dead while the town hall of Barthelemy Dias was attacked amid growing contestation against the candidacy of the outgoing president .
Barthélémy Dias denounces today “A conspiracy” and an “Instrumentalisation of justice” in order to torpedo his candidacy for mayor of Dakar, stronghold of the opposition. Whoever has just been appointed to wear the colors of a vast political coalition is convinced that power is seeking “All means not to organize the elections on January 23, 2022”.
On Wednesday morning, Barthélémy Dias was on his way to the courthouse – accompanied by a procession of activists and several political leaders including Ousmane Sonko and Malick Gakou – when he learned that the hearing had been postponed to 1er December. Summons to which he has already planned not to attend. Blocked by the police for nearly an hour not far from the court, he turned back to return home. It was then that incidents broke out between activists and the police. Some tear gas was fired, cars damaged and people injured, according to several members of the opposition. The three politicians were loaded into a police van and taken to Camp Abdou Diassé.
In March, we witnessed a strangely comparable scenario. Ousmane Sonko was then arrested for “Disturbances to public order”. He too was going in procession to the courthouse where he was summoned for a very embarrassing affair of “Rape with threats” in a massage parlor. Violent riots followed which left around ten dead. He too had denounced a “Plot” to keep him out of the political arena. Ousmane Sonko, herald in the fight against the regime’s corruption and bad governance, recently entered the Senegalese political scene. Very popular with young people, the working classes and all those who aspire to the renewal of the political class, this troublemaker surprised everyone by arriving in third position in the 2019 presidential election (16%).
“Apprentice pyromaniacs”
“I knew it would do it all over again”, launched, Wednesday evening, Leslie Lopez. This member of the Pastef had spent the day in the procession of Barthémély Dias. Also in March he had demonstrated. While the three leaders were still under arrest, members of the coalition they are all part of, Yewwi Askan Wi, held a vehement press conference. Khalifa Sall, though considered a moderate, called on young people to “Resistance (for) that our comrades do not spend the night in a police station ”. This former mayor of Dakar suffered the wrath of a controversial Senegalese justice, sentenced in 2018 to five years in prison by a special court following a procedure criticized by human rights organizations for “Fraud of public funds and money laundering”, before being pardoned.
The release of the three men has been hailed by activists and opposition officials. “Our mobilization has borne fruit”, welcomed Déthié Fall, national representative of the Yewwi Askan Wi coalition. “I’m so glad our hostages are released, we need new blood and change. We want peace and we are ready to sacrifice ourselves to obtain it ”, cried Momo, 28, when his political idol, Ousmane Sonko, arrived at Bartyhélémy Dias’ home.
In front of a pack of journalists, the turbulent Ousmane Sonko said he wanted peace “But not at any price”. “If Macky Sall did not understand it, I do not think he will finish his mandate”, he added, threateningly.
A little later in the evening, the presidential majority coalition denounced a “Insurrectionary enterprise promoting chaos and disorder”, considering that it failed in view of the weak popular mobilization. “Maintaining the call for their activists to invade the court despite the postponement of the trial proves that these apprentice arsonists will stop at nothing to destabilize the country”, believes Wally Fall, member of the presidential movement.