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A schoolboy was killed during violent protests in Senegal over the weekend, bringing the death toll from days of violence in the West African state to five.
Clashes between opposition supporters and security forces began last Wednesday, following the arrest of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, and have continued throughout the weekend.
People set cars on fire, burned and looted shops and threw stones at police during protests, which have highlighted long-standing grievances over living standards and economic exclusion.
On Saturday, people were demonstrating in the southern city of Diaobe against Sonko’s arrest, when the “situation rapidly deteriorated,” according to a security official.
The protesters set fire to a police station, a customs post and several cars.
A schoolboy was killed and six people seriously injured in the clashes, the official added, a figure confirmed by a Senegalese police spokesman.
Covid restrictions add to economic pessimism
Senegal, a former French colony of 16 million people, is often heralded as a beacon of stability in a volatile region.
But about 40 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.
Ndeme Dieng, an opposition member who tried to calm things down during the demonstrations, said the vast majority of the protesters were unemployed youth.
“The gloomy economic situation has made people take to the streets and show that they are fed up,” he said.
In addition to economic pressures, coronavirus restrictions have also damaged livelihoods in a country where most people work in the informal sector.
Sonko denies rape allegations
Opposition leader Sonko, a fierce critic of Senegal’s ruling elite, was arrested on Wednesday on charges of disturbing public order in the capital Dakar.
The move came after fights broke out with opposition supporters as Sonko was heading to court to answer a separate rape charge, which he says is politically motivated.
An opposition group that includes Sonko’s Pastef party called on Saturday for three more days of protests starting Monday, urging people to “descend en masse to the streets.”
“An immense wave of protests has swept through Senegal, criticizing Macky Sall and his government, who have openly snubbed the general public,” said Ndèye Fatou Diop Blondin, spokesperson for the M2D Defense of Democracy Movement.
“We demand the release of the arbitrarily detained political prisoners, the return to the radio waves of Walf TV and SEN TV, and the recognition of the right to demonstrate peacefully,” he said.
Uncertainty about the future of Macky Sall
Sonko, who is considered a key challenger for President Macky Sall, you must also return to court on Monday to answer the rape charge.
He is a devout Muslim popular with young people and came third after Sall in the 2019 elections.
But his political future was suddenly clouded last month when an employee filed rape charges against him at a salon where, he said, he went for back rubs.
The indictment comes amid uncertainty over whether Sall, 59, will seek a third term in office.
ECOWAS calls for calm and restraint
The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States, which includes Senegal, has urged all parts of the country to exercise restraint and remain calm.
ECOWAS also called on the Dakar government “to take the necessary measures to ease tensions and guarantee freedom to demonstrate peacefully.”
Idrissa Seck, who came second in the presidential race and joined Sall’s side as head of the economic council, warned opposition supporters of being manipulated by national or international influences who were “frustrated at not getting their hands on Senegal’s oil and gas reserves, and they are trying to destabilize the country. ”
“I strongly encourage Ousmane Sonko to address his supporters and stop his insurrection,” he continued, adding that he was open to establishing political mediation between the opposition leader and the government to restore calm.
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