2023-05-28 23:09:33
A source close to the authorities said that Ousmane Sonko had been arrested near Koungheul, in the center-south of the country, by the gendarmes and brought back by them to the capital.
Senegalese security forces abruptly ended the march of opponent Ousmane Sonko across the country on Sunday by arresting him in the south and forcibly bringing him back to Dakar, authorities said.
Interior Minister Antoine Diome invoked the clashes between supporters of Ousmane Sonko and the police which have accompanied since Friday the return of the opponent to Dakar in a convoy by road and in which a man was killed .
“There was a death in Kolda, will the state stand idly by (…) the answer can only be negative,” the minister said on public television.
He argued that Ousmane Sonko should have applied for prior authorization before organizing what he called a “freedom caravan”.
“We were therefore able to supervise the leader of the (party) Pastef (Ousmane Sonko) to his home (in Dakar) where he was dropped off,” he said.
The interior minister reported that weapons were found in the vehicle carrying Ousmane Sonko.
“Untraceable and unreachable”
The fate of the opponent, engaged for two years in a showdown with the power for the presidential election of 2024, gave rise to speculation for several hours.
Ousmane Sonko, declared presidential candidate but threatened with ineligibility by court cases which he denounces as a state plot, has not given any public news since Sunday morning. His party declared him “untraceable and unreachable”.
He undertook Friday in the south of the country a return march to Dakar which he intended to make a show of force. The convoy drew crowds of enthusiastic young supporters and was marred by clashes between young people and security forces, in which a man was killed.
While Ousmane Sonko willingly documents his actions live on social networks and did the same for the first two days of his trip, he stopped doing so on Sunday.
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