Daily Nation Newspaper

Senegal protests: Teenager killed in clashes after Ousmane Sonko’s arrest

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Ateenage student has become the fifth person known to have died in Senegal in protests that followed the arrest of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko on Wednesday.

He was killed on Saturday in clashes between demonstrat­ors and security forces in the southern city of Diaobe.

Protesters had tried to burn down official buildings in the city.

Mr Sonko appeared in court on Friday accused of disrupting public order. He also faces a rape allegation.

He denies the allegation­s and his supporters say the accusation­s are politicall­y motivated.

On Friday, following violence in the capital, Dakar, and elsewhere, Interior Minister Antoine Felix Abdoulaye Diome vowed to use "all the means necessary for a return to order".

Speaking on national TV, Mr Diome accused Mr Sonko of "issuing calls to violence".

The opposition alliance known as the Movement to Defend Democracy (M2D), which is behind the demonstrat­ions, has announced three further days of protests starting on Monday.

The West African regional group Ecowas has condemned the violence and called on “all parties to exercise restraint and remain calm” - adding that the authoritie­s should “take the necessary measures to ease tensions and guarantee the freedom to demonstrat­e peacefully”.

Mr Sonko, 46, was accused of rape in February.

Following an investigat­ion he was arrested on Wednesday and taken to court accompanie­d by a group of supporters. - BBC

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