Senegal’s Supreme Court has ruled against opposition politician Ousmane Sonko’s appeal in his defamation conviction, a decision that puts his chances of running in presidential elections at risk.
“The sentence and fines have been confirmed. Sonko lost on all counts,” state lawyer El Hadji Diouf said on Friday after the judge ruled to uphold the six-month suspended sentence following a more than 12-hour hearing.
He added that Sonko was “now totally banned from taking part in an election”. The 49-year-old had filed his candidacy papers last month, while in custody, to compete in the February 25 elections.
Sonko was removed from the nation’s voter records and sent in jail following his arrest on insurrectionary charges in July.
Over the previous two years, he has been involved in numerous court actions over allegations of rape and libel, both of which he rejects. The West African country has seen fatal bloodshed as a result of the cases brought against him.
Following lengthy proceedings that lasted from Thursday into the wee hours of Friday, Sonko’s appeal against the May conviction was denied by the court. Senegalese law states that Sonko is unable to run for president as long as the conviction is affirmed.
His legal team, however, said the setback was not final. “The fight will continue,” his lawyer Cire Cledor Ly told reporters outside the court building in the capital, Dakar.
Sonko’s legal issues started in 2021 when he was charged with rape. This led to violent protests around the nation, which have since flared up periodically over different court rulings.
He asserts that all accusations made against him are driven by politics and rejects any misconduct. In July, the government disbanded Sonko’s Patriots of Senegal (PASTEF) party, alleging that he incited violence.
