Senegal’s opposition supporters hold peaceful protest

Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko has led a peaceful protest after the authorities blocked a rally to publicly confirm he would run in next year’s presidential elections, as the country’s prosecutor has filed an international arrest warrant against Sonko’s French lawyer.
The 49-year-old main opposition figure, dressed in red in a sign of anger, appeared outside his home Saturday (15 July) to kick off the protest, “symbolically” banging pots for several minutes. This came after Sonko had on Thursday (13 July) been “unanimously voted in as the PASTEF-Patriots’ candidate for the 25 February 2024 presidential elections,” a party statement said. He has been confined by security forces at his home in Dakar since late May and his nomination comes despite lingering questions over his eligibility due to criminal convictions and prison sentences.
Sonko told supporters “another date” for the rally would be chosen, adding “Macky Sall is trying to eradicate PASTEF and prevent me from being a presidential candidate,” Sonko said, urging his supporters to wear red in protest. Meanwhile, Senegalese prosecutors on Friday (14 July) said they had filed an international arrest warrant against Sonko’s French lawyer Juan Branco who was wanted for alleged “crimes and offences” connected to the unrest which shook Senegal in June 2022. But Sonco remained defiant, expressing his support to his legal counsel. Branco could also face a lawsuit on a separate matter in France, reportedly for unveiling the identity of two employees at the French embassy to Senegal.