Senegal: Prosecutor Seeks 10-Year Jail Term For Opposition Leader Amid Rape Accusation

Senegalese prosecutor is now calling for a 10-year jail term against the opposition leader Ousmane Sonko on a rape case that has sparked tensions in the West African country.

Sonko, who is very popular among young people, has called the prosecution a political ploy to derail his presidential ambition in 2024.

After the last hearing, which stretched into the early hours of Wednesday, the trial was delayed early Wednesday, with a judgment likely on June 1 according to the president of the criminal court.

The trial began on Tuesday after the judge denied Sonko and his co-accused's request for an adjournment after he failed to appear for the second day in a row.

Sonko has been accused of rape and making death threats against a beauty shop employee in Dakar.

Sonko, 48, claims he went to the salon for a massage to relieve persistent back pain and denies assaulting anyone.

In Tuesday's session, complainant Adji Sarr maintained her allegations, claiming Sonko assaulted her five times. She also reported receiving death threats.

Sonko's trial began on May 16 but was immediately postponed to May 23 due to his absence.

The accused had stated that he worried for his safety and that he would not appear in court until the state guaranteed his protection.

He is said to be in the southern city of Ziguinchor, hundreds of kilometres (miles) from Dakar, where he is mayor and may be barred from running for the presidency if convicted.

Sonko finished third in the 2019 election against incumbent Macky Sall as president of the PASTEF-Patriots party.

Senegal has long been a beacon of peace in volatile West Africa, but in recent years it has been buffeted by unrest that has proved deadly at times.

When Sonko was arrested in 2021, at least 12 people were killed in a series of demonstrations.

Three more persons were killed in fights between Sonko supporters and police before the trial began on May 16.

Political tensions have also been heightened by Sall's unwillingness to rule out running for a third term as president, which his opponents claim is illegal.

Sall was elected in 2012, when the presidential term was seven years, and re-elected in 2019 when the mandate was reduced to five years.