Senegal bans protest forward of tense elections

Authorities within the Senegalese capital, Dakar, banned an indication introduced Wednesday at a time of heightened stress within the run-up to legislative elections.

A banned demonstration on June 17 led to clashes during which three folks have been killed and greater than 200 arrested, in response to opposition figures. Two lawmakers have been arrested, one in every of whom was given a six-month suspended jail sentence on Monday.

A decree issued by the governor of Dakar declared that there have been “actual risks” that rioters would infiltrate the rally and that public order and property could possibly be at risk.

She additionally stated that the demonstration would violate legal guidelines prohibiting “disguised” promoting carried out inside 30 days of the official begin of an election marketing campaign.

Legislative elections in Senegal, a rustic that usually has a very good repute for stability, are scheduled for July 31, and can formally start on July 10.

The poll is for the 165-seat Nationwide Meeting, the place supporters of President Macky Sall have the bulk.

Leaders of an opposition coalition known as Yue Askan Wee are upset after Senegal’s Supreme Court docket canceled an inventory of their nominees on technical grounds.

The transfer successfully prevented a distinguished opposition determine, Osman Sonko, who got here third within the 2019 presidential election and has already introduced that he’ll run within the 2024 elections.

The nation was shaken after a number of days of riots in March final yr, which claimed round 12 lives, after Sonko was accused of rape.

(AFP)