Senegal’s public prosecutor requested that the judges in opposition leader Ousmane Sonko’s rape trial find him guilty and sentence him to ten years in prison. If convicted, he will be barred from running for president in the upcoming elections.
The judge’s decision is expected on June 1.
Sonko, 48, is accused of sexual assault and death threats by a massage parlor employee in 2021. He has refused to appear in court and claims to be innocent.
Sonko, who has a large following among young people, has been embroiled in a legal battle that he claims is an attempt to keep him from running in the upcoming elections in February 2024. In a separate libel case earlier this month, he was sentenced to a suspended prison term, which he is also appealing.
Senegal has seen violent protests since Sonko’s initial detention on rape charges in 2021. The rape trial resumed without Sonko on Tuesday, but his supporters usually take to the streets whenever he is in court.
The judges heard testimony late into the night from several witnesses, including Sonko’s accuser and former massage parlor owner, Khady Ndiaye.
The complainant, dressed in red, described the alleged assault and claimed she had been raped five times.
The doctor she saw the night of the alleged incident discovered sperm in her system.
Ndiaye, who is suspected of being involved, claimed that her former employees did not engage in any sexual acts as part of their services.
Sonko’s attorneys were unable to make a statement on his behalf due to his absence, effectively barring any future appeals if he is found guilty.
At 3 a.m., the public prosecutor requested a ten-year prison sentence for rape or five years for moral corruption, as well as a fine of more than $3,300.
The court adjourned the case for further consideration after hearing his argument. The Sonko camp has yet to comment on the proposed sentence.
Sonko claims that the trials are being held for political reasons, but President Macky Sall and his government deny this.
Sall, 61, who was first elected in 2012, defeated Sonko, who finished third, in the 2019 presidential election.
The 2016 constitution limits the number of terms a president can serve to two. There are concerns, however, that Sall may claim that his presidential mandate has been reset as a result of the constitutional reform and that he is thus eligible to run again.
