In Senegal, Ousmane Sonko against Macky Sall or the strategy of tension

The staging is unusual to say the least. A gray sweatshirt on his back, a hood on his head and an infusion on his arm, Ousmane Sonko is sitting on a hospital bed. Four days after his stormy appearance in court and his face-to-face with the police, Thursday, March 16, the accused accuses. “It is neither more nor less than yet another assassination attempt… assassination if not an attack on my physical integrity”he denounces in a video made public late in the evening of Monday, March 20.

The police men “sprayed me with liquid at point-blank range. An extremely toxic liquid that produces both respiratory effects, effects on the eyes, effects on the skin, effects on the digestive system. These products, we do not yet know exactly what it is. The main Senegalese opponent has been hospitalized since the tumultuous day that surrounded the resumption of his trial on Thursday. Ousmane Sonko is being sued for defamation by the Senegalese Minister of Tourism, Mame Mbaye Niang, whom he accuses of embezzlement. The case could make the most serious opposition candidate for the 2024 presidential election ineligible, while the head of state, Macky Sall, casts doubt on his desire to serve a third term.

Read also: At the trial of Ousmane Sonko for defamation, the fracture of the two Senegal

Chronicled live on social networks by activists from Pastef (African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity), Sonko’s party, the day of March 16 was punctuated with clashes and scenes of high tension. which killed at least three people. Among them, the one where we see the opponent being forced out of his vehicle by a gendarme to be taken to court marked the spirits. She recalls the one that occurred a few weeks earlier: during Sonko’s first appearance, an agent had broken the window of his vehicle to bring him home.

A martyr persecuted by the regime

“In Senegal, successive regimes have mistreated their opponents. Between 1988 and 2000, Abdoulaye Wade suffered several acts of violence from the Abdou Diouf regime.recalls Seydi Gassama, executive director of the section of Amnesty International in Senegal. Members of his party were arrested, tortured by the police. Today, the disproportionate use of force against Ousmane Sonko demonstrates that the country is taking a twenty-year leap back. »

Since the 2019 presidential election, Ousmane Sonko, a former tax inspector dismissed for having denounced acts of fraud, has not stopped his ascent. It is very popular with young people, urbanites, graduates, a population that often has no job prospects. For his supporters, his legal troubles have made him a martyr persecuted by the regime. They thus remember Khalifa Sall, the mayor of Dakar, excluded from the presidential race because of a prison sentence. Before him, Karim Wade, the son of Abdoulaye Wade, had experienced the same fate. That’s all it takes for some activists to shout at the politico-judicial conspiracy orchestrated by Macky Sall.

Unlike his predecessors, Sonko refuses to “to trust” to a justice that he considers to be under orders. In March 2021, when Adji Sarr, a massage parlor employee, accused her of rape, a crowd of her supporters took to the streets. Clashes with security forces left at least 14 dead and 500 injured.

Read also: In Senegal, first confrontation between Adji Sarr and opponent Ousmane Sonko, accused of rape

“These images are a disgrace for a country that prides itself on being a democratic model, asserts Alioune Tine, head of the Afrikajom Center think tank. They are terrible for our security forces, despite being recognized for their professionalism in external missions. »

“Mr. Sonko thinks he is above the law”

Around Ousmane Sonko, we say to ourselves ” worried “. “We fear for our own safety”, explains El Malick Ndiaye, the national secretary of the Pastef for communication. This denounces the “thugs of power with clubs who operate with the police”.

An irrational fear, we claim on the side of the government. “The real problem is that Mr. Sonko thinks he is above the law. At each convocation, he stirs up his support, calls for an insurrection. Faced with the escalation, the security forces are rather showing restraint and professionalism,” defends Oumar Youm, president of the parliamentary group Benno bokk yakaar, the presidential coalition.

Violence, in deeds as well as in words, nevertheless seems to be omnipresent. As soon as he came to power in 2012, President Macky Sall promised to reduce “the opposition at its simplest expression”. « gatsa gatsa [œil pour œil, dent pour dent] », answers today in Wolof Ousmane Sonko, who promises a “mortal combat” against the current president.

“These speeches go to war muzzle those who think differently. Today, for Pastef supporters, you are either with their leader or against him. Dissenting makes you corrupt. Intellectuals and religious leaders are now afraid to speak critically against Ousmane Sonko. They fear invective and attacks, especially online, regrets Oumar Mboup, activist of the citizen movement Jammi Gox Yi, The political debate has been confiscated by this extreme bipolarization. »

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The next high-risk day in Dakar is set for March 30, when Ousmane Sonko’s trial is due to resume. While many of his supporters demanded that he be evacuated for health reasons abroad, the opponent warned that he did not plan to leave his country. ” It is a fight for the survival of our homeland, of our democracy largely compromised by Macky Sall and his dictatorial regime. This is why I will stay here in Senegal”he assured in the video.

Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers In Senegal, turbulence in sight for the end of Macky Sall’s mandate

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