Senegalese opponent Ousmane Sonko is "more than calm" according to a lawyer after the rape trial which was held in his absence and which could hinder his presidential candidacy in 2024 after two years of political and judicial tensions.
The Senegalese could know next week the outcome of a story that has been in the news since 2021.
It reached a new peak on Tuesday with a trial conducted at a run for 17 hours (with interruptions), an opportunity for an unpacking shared in real time with the general public by the journalists present thanks to the internet.
The criminal chamber has reserved its decision on June 1.
Prosecutor Abdou Karim Diop requested that Mr. Sonko be sentenced to ten years in prison for rape, or at least five years in prison for "corruption of youth", as well as one year in prison for the death threats he received. allegedly uttered against the plaintiff.
The commission of rapes is not in doubt, argued the magistrate in a hasty indictment.
Mr. Sonko, 48, is the subject of the complaint by Adji Sarr, 23, an employee of the Sweet Beauté salon. The young woman, who became a reluctant celebrity and placed under police protection, maintained that Mr. Sonko had abused her - "five times" - between 2020 and the beginning of 2021 and had threatened her with death if she spoke.
Witnesses disputed his testimony on various points.
The issue goes beyond morals. Mr. Sonko risks his eligibility, already compromised by a six-month suspended sentence for defamation against a minister. The president of the Pastef-les Patriotes party, third in the presidential election in 2019, has always refuted the accusations and shouted at the conspiracy of power to remove him from the presidential election.
Mr. Sonko is popular with the under-20s who make up half the population. The mobilization of his supporters during his appointments with the justice system has given rise to incidents and disturbances, including fatal ones. The tension is expected to be strong again around June 1st.
Saying he feared for his safety and questioned the impartiality of justice, Mr. Sonko decided not to appear.
He is presumed to be in Ziguinchor (south), of which he is the mayor and where he has been retired for several days, almost invisible. His supporters mount a close and threatening guard around his home to ward off a possible arrest attempt.
In Ziguinchor too, the affair divides. The president "Macky Sall has been hounding Sonko for five years, simply because he arouses hope", indignant Amadou Badji, a 75-year-old retiree. "Since the independence of Senegal, I have never seen such a story".
Algassim Diallo, a 33-year-old coffee seller, expresses another widespread feeling: "We are fed up with this trial. It's been two years now that Senegal has been taken hostage for a story of rape. Everything is at the idle, traders, drivers, everyone is complaining. It's time to move on."
Mr. Sonko, he, "is more than serene", told AFP Me Ciré Clédor Ly, one of his lawyers who said he was with him in Ziguinchor. After the trial, "the world is built on the state conspiracy, (argument) which has always been supported" by the defense, he said.
The government denies any instrumentalization of justice and alleges a private matter.
No one defended Mr. Sonko at trial on Tuesday. His lawyers left the hearing. The lawyers of his co-defendant, Ms. Ndèye Khady Ndiaye, the boss of the beauty salon tried for complicity, did the same. The accused, eight months pregnant, faced the judges alone. No one pleaded for her.
The trial gave rise, outside of any camera, to an extraordinary presentation in the rawest detail, breaking with the modesty of Senegalese society, with exchanges on the complainant's virginity and the semen samples taken on her.
The trial also offered a dive into the discreet operation of an establishment at curfew time during the pandemic, with the different types of massage offered without the knowledge of a large part of a very observant population.
Mr. Sonko, married, father of a family, admitted to having gone for a massage, but to soothe chronic back pain and after having requested the consent of a spiritual adviser, he assures.
Adji Sarr's complaint temporarily put the issue of rape in the public square, where it was willingly passed over in silence. Adji Sarr has been attacked and threatened on social networks. She has always demanded justice.
24/05/2023 16:45:28 - Dakar (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
