The legal battle surrounding Senegal’s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko has entered a pivotal new phase. His lawyers filed this week a request for a review of his July 2025 defamation conviction, which had rendered him ineligible to contest the 2024 presidential election.
The appeal targets the case brought by former Tourism Minister Mame Mbaye Niang and invokes an exceptional procedure under Senegalese law allowing final criminal decisions to be revisited if new evidence casts doubt on guilt.
The defense is relying on a confidential report from the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF), allegedly accessed by Sonko after taking office as Prime Minister. The report, they say, points to irregular public spending by Niang and undermines the basis of the defamation ruling. The Supreme Court must now decide whether to validate the request. If approved, a fresh trial will be held. Legal experts note that an acquittal would annul all consequences of the initial judgment, including 200 million CFA francs in damages, and could remove lingering questions over Sonko’s eligibility, although debate persists over the interpretation of the latest amnesty law.
