Six weeks before Senegal’s parliamentary elections, the country is shaken by protests and clashes between protesters and police.
On Friday, three people died during the protests, and now opposition leader Ousmane Sonko is demanding that President Macky Sall release the politicians detained during the riots, which continued on Saturday.
Sonko himself was kept in house arrest until Saturday, but other opposition politicians who participated were arrested, among them four prospective parliamentarians.
In an open letter on Facebook, Sonko writes: “Mr. Macky Sall, we give you an ultimatum. Release all political prisoners, otherwise we will come and get them, at any cost. “
For more than a week, thousands of people have demonstrated against the country’s constitutional court not accepting the opposition’s list of eligible politicians, including Sonko.
The demonstrations were initially peaceful, but when the court on Wednesday went a step further and banned opposition politicians from running in the July 31 election, the protests turned to street violence.
– If the rulers want to ban our list, there will be no election in Senegal, Sonko now threatens.