In Senegal, it was one of the incidents which particularly marred the legislative campaign last November. Several dozen people were arrested, accused of intentional injury after clashes in Saint-Louis, in the north of the country.
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Eighty people were arrested around November 10 in Saint-Louis (north), after incidents between traders, members of the ruling party and others from the security of the leader of the opposition coalition Samm Sa Kaddu , Barthélémy Dias, then mayor of Dakar and head of the list for the legislative elections of November 17, 2024. The ruling party had deplored several victims in its ranks, after these incidents which had led, according to the authorities, injuries from bladed weapons and snatching.
Nearly two months after the events, the Saint-Louis high court delivered its verdict. Of the 80 accused, 25 will ultimately remain behind bars, reports our correspondent in Dakar, Léa-Lisa Westerhoff. Three of them received a three-year prison sentence for using bladed weapons, among other things, and intentional assault and battery, identified by video surveillance images, on November 11 in Saint-Louis.
Three other defendants were sentenced to six months in prison, the remaining 19 to three months in prison, for possession of bladed weapons and illegal exercise of private police duty. Fifty-five people were released for lack of evidence.
For civil society organizations who challenged the authorities during the electoral campaign, this verdict is good news. “ Every time there is violence, there must be a sanction », commented Moundiaye Cisse, head of the NGO 3D. However, he calls on the justice system to continue its work and in particular to try activists of the ruling party, this time, accused of having set fire to the headquarters of the opposition coalition Samm Sa Kaddu at the opening of the electoral campaign. The legal proceedings have yielded nothing since.
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