Senegalese opposition leader charged with rape

A Senegalese judge charged opposition leader Ousmane Sonko with rape and freed him from detention pending an investigation yesterday, after his arrest last week sparked the west African state’s worst unrest in years.

Five people, including a schoolboy, were killed in nationwide clashes that followed the arrest of Mr Sonko, a government critic who is popular with young Senegalese. The judge in the capital Dakar freed the opposition leader from detention but also formally charged him with rape, and the police investigation is set to continue.

Mr Sonko has called the rape allegation politically motivated.