DAKAR – Senegalese police clashed with protesters in several neighborhoods of the capital Dakar on Friday, including in front of a courthouse where an opposition leader made his first appearance since his arrest on a rape charge.
An attorney for Ousmane Sonko said he was charged with rape and threats, allegations that led to clashes since his arrest Wednesday between his stone-throwing supporters and police in several villages.
Antoine Felix Abdoulaye Diome, Senegal’s interior minister, killed four people in the violence, broadcast on national television on Friday, calling the protests an ‘organized uprising’.
Sonko, a 46-year-old tax inspector with a strong following among young people, denied wrongdoing and said accusations were part of a pattern by authorities to draw up criminal charges to deter opponents of elections.
In Dakar on Friday, protesters looted stones and other objects at security forces, set up street barriers and burned tires and debris, while police fired tear gas and stunt grenades to disperse them.
Authorities responded by restricting access to the Internet and suspending broadcasting by two private TV channels covering the protests. On Friday, they also banned motorcycles and mopeds, popular among Sonko’s young political base, from the streets of the capital.
Internet monitor NetBlocks said social media and messages such as Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube were restricted early Friday. Some schools and shops have closed for violence.
Police in full protective gear guarded the courthouse when Sonko appeared before a judge. The trial is set to resume on Monday.
The United Nations’ representative in the region, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, in a statement on Friday called for self-restraint and calm and called on the Senegalese government to “take the necessary measures to alleviate tensions”.
One resident said an evening bell and a general dissatisfaction with President Macky Sall linked to pandemic also sparked public outrage.
“I do not think things will be calm. People are getting up,” said 24-year-old fashion worker Souleymane Diallo.
The interior minister said the government planned to ease coronavirus restrictions soon as the West African nation began vaccinating against Covid-19 last week.
A beauty salon employee accused Sonko last month of raping her. Parliament deprived Sonko of his immunity as legislator last week.
The opposition fears the case is an attempt by Sall to remove a potentially popular competitor if he decides to seek a third term in 2024.
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Other rivals have been targeted in the past by criminal charges, including former Dakar Mayor Khalifa Sall and Karim Wade, the son of former President Abdoulaye Wade, who removed them from the 2019 presidential race.
The government denies political motives behind the case. Sall, 59, who has been in power since 2012, did not comment on reports that he might seek a third term, despite a two-term constitutional restriction.
Amnesty International has expressed concern about the handling of the situation by the authorities, citing a spate of arrests, the use of live weapons and the suspension of broadcasters.