Senegal: Two Parliamentary Members Jailed For Assaulting Pregnant Colleague

Two Senegalese opposition MPs were handed six-month jail terms on Monday for physically attacking a female colleague in parliament.

Amy Ndiaye, a pro-government legislator in Senegal, was slapped and then kicked in the stomach during a rowdy session of the National Assembly, sparking heated debate about democracy in the country.

After a trial that began on December 19, MPs Mamadou Niang and Massata Samb were both sentenced to six months in jail.

They were also fined 100,000 CFA francs ($150) apiece and forced to pay damages of five million francs. Prosecutors had requested two-year sentences.

The brawl occurred on December 1, following a regular vote on the budget of the Justice Ministry.

It was prompted by comments made by Ndiaye against Serigne Moustapha Sy, a significant Muslim leader who backs the opposition but is not a legislator.

After the peace was restored, Ndiaye collapsed and was taken to the hospital; her lawyer, Baboucar Cisse, stated that she was pregnant and feared she would lose her child.

She has already been discharged from the hospital, but she "remains in an extraordinarily tough condition," according to Cisse.

The event sparked a heated debate regarding legislative debate and insults to women.

It happened to coincide with a domestic abuse awareness campaign.

Senegal is largely seen as a model of stability and democracy in West Africa, a region rife with coups and dictatorships.

Legislative elections in July resulted in a virtual tie, forcing President Macky Sall's party to form a coalition to remain in office.

Sall was first elected to a seven-year term in 2012 and was re-elected to a five-year term in 2019. He has not revealed his ambitions for the 2024 presidential election.

Niang and Samb, who were detained on December 15, did not appear in court.

"They will remain in prison awaiting an appeal," Abdy Nar Ndiaye, one of their attorneys, told AFP.

Despite video proof to the contrary, they denied punching the politician.

Their attorneys contended that because they were parliamentarians, they were protected from prosecution, but the court rejected this.