A Senegalese court on Monday handed over a six-month suspended sentence to opposition politician Ousmane Sonko who intends to run in next year’s presidential elections, reported France 24. The court also imposed a fine of 200 million CFA francs (around $330,000) on Sonko.
The 48-year-old opposition figure had come third in the 2019 presidential vote and intends to stand again in 2024, but two court cases could ruin his candidacy.
In March, the court found him guilty of defaming the country’s tourism minister, Mame Mbaye Niang and handed a two-month suspended sentence to him.
Monday’s ruling added another four months to the sentence. The Senegalese opposition leader has six days in which to appeal the decision. If he does not successfully challenge the court’s order, it will likely throw him out of the presidential election race under the electoral code on candidates’ eligibility.
Sonko didn’t turn up for proceedings on Monday, as he said that he will not respond to any of the court’s summonses without guarantees for his safety.
Government Prosecutor General Ibrahima Bakhoum has asked the court to order Sonko’s arrest and get him jailed for two years.
Sonko is also facing trial sometime later this month for alleged rape and death threats over a complaint filed by an employee at a beauty salon where he went for a massage.
The Senegalese opposition leader has denied the rape charge, saying it is President Macky Sall’s plan to stop him from contesting the presidential election next year.
Sonko has been widely seen as one of the most prominent challengers to President Sall, whose second term in office ends in 2024. The incumbent Sall is likely to seek a third presidential term despite the constitution’s two-term limit.
The Senegalese government has denied the accusation, saying that Sonko has invoked protests and demonstrations to avoid justice.
