Ousmane Sonko
A judge in Senegal has released opposition leader Ousmane Sonko on bail after days of deadly protests sparked by his arrest last week.
“He is going home. He is free,” said Etienne Ddione, Mr Sonko’s lawyer.
Mr Sonko says charges of rape are politically motivated to stop him from running again in elections in 2024.
Demonstrators scuffled with security forces outside the courthouse in the capital, Dakar, before Monday’s hearing.
Police have deployed armoured cars in the city in the wake of several days of clashes in which at least eight people were killed, including a teenager in the southern town of Diaobé – the most serious violence Senegal has seen for several years.
Mr Sonko is popular among young Senegalese, and an opposition collective known as the Movement for the Defence of Democracy has called for three days of mass protests, starting on Monday.
Follow us on:
The FBI has stopped an alleged Iranian plot targeting President-elect Donald Trump, seeking revenge for…
Beyoncé leads the 2025 Grammy nominations, breaking the record as the most nominated artist in…
Republicans are set to gain a Senate seat and maintain a slim House majority, enhancing…
Louisiana school with a majority Black student population is set to close due to toxic…
A judge has blocked a Biden administration program that aimed to protect immigrant spouses from…
A new Ipsos poll has shown most Americans expect President-elect Trump’s policies to increase the…