The situation in Senegal remains tense after clashes that resulted in six new deaths, bringing to 15 the toll of clashes since Thursday when the opposition Ousmane Sonko was sentenced to two years in prison.

Edited  by |ANNA sam

Africa  section -  CJ journalist

Dakar -  June,4,2023   

"Yesterday we recorded six deaths, including four in the Dakar region and two in the Ziguinchor region,"interior ministry spokesman Maham Ka said.

Clashes broke out on Friday evening between small groups of young demonstrators and the police in Dakar, its suburbs and the south of the country, and the Ministry of Interior did not release any reports of incidents this afternoon.

Several public and private properties were looted, including banks and shops of the "Auchan" brand on the outskirts of Dakar, and burnt tires and stones were scattered on the roads in a number of streets this morning.

The authorities have imposed restrictions on access to social networks, as noted in "Facebook","WhatsApp" and"Twitter", a measure to stop the "spread of hate messages and vandalism," she said.

The army, like the previous day, was deployed around strategic points. Elements of the police and gendarmerie were also deployed in large numbers in the capital.

Senegalese fear the repercussions of the possible arrest of the opposition Ousmane Sonko, the presidential candidate for 2024 and sentenced to two years in prison for encouraging a young woman under 21 to "debauchery", as this decision leads to disqualification from the election.

Sonko has not stopped denying the charges against him, pointing to a plot by the authorities to keep him out of the presidential elections and it seems that the security forces are forcing him to stay at his home in Dakar and that he is "detained", as he put it.

Justice minister Ismail Madior told reporters Sonko could be arrested "at any moment".

In a statement yesterday, Sonko bastiev's party called for "expanding and intensifying resistance until the departure of President Macky Sall", accusing his regime of committing "bloody and authoritarian excesses".

The government spokesman said that the events since the day before yesterday are not " a popular demonstration with political demands "but"acts of sabotage and banditry".

He told The Observer newspaper, " We are facing saboteurs who are being recruited to fuel an artificial tension. They will continue what they are doing, but time is playing in the interests of full recovery and maintaining public order,"he said.

"We urge all parties to express their views in a peaceful form," US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement, expressing Washington's "concern" about the tension prevailing in Senegal.

"If they want peace, they won't chase Sonko,"she added.

Dakar, which is usually crowded with passers-by, was evacuated and several shops closed their doors.

The international community, representatives of federations and football stars such as star striker Sadio Mane yesterday called for restraint and a reduction in violence in this country, known for its stability in West Africa.

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