By Sarjo Brito
Chaotic scenes gripped the streets of Senegal as opposition leader Ousman Sonko headed to court Wednesday to face a judge over rape allegations against him. Sonko’s appearance before the court was after a back and forth with security forces on which route, he will travel on. Many videos online show security forces firing tear gas at pro Sonko demonstrators. Many Senegalese have taken to the streets, some standing in solidarity with the 44-year-old politician. The rape allegation against Sonko has also been met with conspiracies, with some going as far as accusing the government of Macky Sall of trying to throw the young politician behind bars to end his political career.
Reacting to events happening in his country, Senegalese vendor in The Gambia Omar Joof said the Sonko issue is highly political and was a setup from the beginning. Joof said whilst Sonko has agreed to face the court, the justice system must not be trusted as far as this case is concerned.
“This was clearly a setup from the beginning and now they know they do not have a case. I do not trust the Senegalese Justice system with this case to begin with. All the judges, Magistrates belong to Macky Sall,” Joof said
And on the other side of the coin, another Senegalese vendor that goes by the name Mo accused Ousman Sonko of pitting the Senegalese people against Macky Sall, arguing that Government has the right to tell Sonko which road to take for the purpose of security.
“All Sonko is trying to do is pit the Senegalese people against Macky, choosing to travel on a route where he knows his supporters will cause some chaos and put the blame on President Sall. The security has the right to tell him which route to take because it us for security purposes,” Mo said.
Meanwhile Ousman Sonko’s immunity has been lifted by the Senegalese parliament since Friday. At a live press conference yesterday evening, Sonko said this was a political stunt and after the realization that it has blown up, they resorted to making up false evidence against him. Sonko said despite they have no substantial evidence against him, he predicted being arrested for other charges like public disturbance, among others.
