Conflict broke out in Senegal after the court sentenced opposition leader Sonko to prison At least nine people died in the fighting that...
Conflict broke out in Senegal after the court sentenced opposition leader Sonko to prison
At least nine people died in the fighting that started after Ousmane Sonko, the leader of the opposition, was given two years in jail by a court in Dakar, the capital of Senegal.
Riots broke out in Senegal's capital, Dakar, after a court sentenced opposition leader Ousmane Sonko to two years in jail for "contaminating the minds of young people." This could hurt his chances of running for president next year.
Interior Minister Antoine Felix Abdoulaye said that at least nine people were killed when his followers threw rocks at the police. In response, the police sprayed them with pepper spray. Diome said this in a speech he gave on TV on Friday morning.
"It's sad to say that nine people have died in Dakar and Ziguinchor because of the conflict," said Diome. "Government and public buildings were destroyed, and nine people were killed."
Abdou Karim Fofana, a spokeswoman for the government, said that security in the country's capital has been tightened.
Senegal has been blocking dozens of social media sites since Thursday evening. Internet critic NetBlocks says that this will make it harder for people to talk to each other.
Sonko, who was one of President Macky Sall's biggest opponents, was not in court on Thursday when he was convicted. He didn't show up to the court hearing.
He is thought to be at his Dakar home, which is surrounded by security troops because he was not allowed to leave over the weekend.
After being put on hold between the two sides for two years, which made the country afraid, the Minister of Justice Ismaila Madior Fall told reporters that he can now be arrested "at any time."
Because of this, the University of Dakar has become like a war zone.
Young student groups and the police got into a fight, and the students threw rocks at the police. Pepper spray was thrown at them by the cops.
The Faculty of Medicine, the Department of History, and the Department of Journalism all had their buses and buildings burned down. The school year is over until further notice.
A cameraman from AFP who was taking pictures said that young people attacked the ticket office and other government offices in other parts of the city, setting tires on fire and stopping cars from moving.
Some parts of the country have seen videos of the fighting on social media.
Reports say that the streets of Dakar are still empty because people are still hiding in their homes. Only security troops can be seen on the streets.
Some parts of the country, like Casamance in the south, Mbour and Kaolack in the west, and Saint-Louis in the north, have been said to be at war.
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