Senegal: Opposition Leader Resists Cooperation With Judges

Senegalese opposition figure, Ousmane Sonko said on Monday that he will refuse to cooperate with the judicial authorities if they cannot guarantee his safety.

The announcement comes on the eve of Sonko's defamation appeal.

"This isn't justice; it's judicial banditry. And it is for this reason that I have chosen, while continuing my campaign of civil disobedience, to no longer collaborate with this justice," said the Senegalese political opponent.  

During his forced transport to the Dakar court during the first defamation proceedings, Sonko appeared to relate to reports of an assassination attempt by the police back in March.

"(Speaking to the judges, Ed.) By hiding behind your robes and a false interpretation of the law, you are attacking a man who has done nothing to you. 

"You are attacking his family. You are doing harm and you think that you can go on with your life as if nothing had happened. 

"You are mistaken. All those who have participated in these plots, I swear to God, in one way or another will be held accountable", promised the opposition figure.

Ousmane Sonko, who finished third in the 2019 presidential elections, alleges he is the victim of a plan by President Macky Sall to prevent him from running in the 2024 elections.