This will perhaps be the last episode of the legal drama which pits Ousmane Sonko against the Senegalese State over his removal from the electoral lists. The Dakar court of first instance must decide on Tuesday morning, December 12, whether to remove or reinstate Senegalese opponent Ousmane Sonko from the electoral lists. A decision on which his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election depends and which follows the decision of the Supreme Court to reject his reinstatement in the lists.
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With our correspondent in Dakar, Léa-Lisa Westerhoff
On November 17, the highest judicial body in the country had rejected the decision to reinstate Ousmane Sonko on the electoral lists and referred the case to the Dakar court.
Tuesday morning is a return to square one for the country’s number one opponent. Because the Court of First Instance will take over the case from A to Z and re-judge the dispute between Ousmane Sonko and the State of Senegal on the merits: it will decide whether it is fair or not that Ousmane Sonko was removed from the electoral lists following his conviction on June 1 to two years in prison for corruption of youth.
For defense lawyers, Ousmane Sonko was tried in absentia, then arrested. This arrest imposes the organization of a new trial, according to Senegalese law. In the meantime, the initial conviction is annulled and the person’s civil rights restored, the lawyers argue.
For weeks, the legal headache that has become the journey of political opponent Ousmane Sonko crystallizes around this point. Because being registered on the electoral lists is the first condition if you want to be a candidate in an election.
But time is running out: presidential contenders have until December 26 to submit their file before the Constitutional Court, which is then responsible for verifying and validating the applications.