DAKAR, Senegal
Senegal’s government temporarily suspended mobile phone data on Sunday as the country reels from days of deadly clashes between police and supporters of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.
The ministry of communication,
telecommunications and digital economy said that because of the diffusion of
“subversive messages in a context of public disorder in certain localities,”
cellphone internet data would be suspended during certain time periods.
The statement comes after days
of deadly clashes throughout the West African nation between Sonko’s supporters
and police. The official death toll is unclear. The government says that 15
people, including two members of the security forces, have been killed, while
the opposition says 19 people have died.
ALSO READ: Death toll from Senegal protests rises to 15 as opposition supporters clash with police
The clashes first broke out on
Thursday, after Sonko was convicted of corrupting youth but acquitted on
charges of raping a woman who worked at a massage parlor and making death
threats against her. Sonko, who didn’t attend his trial in Dakar, was sentenced
to two years in prison. His lawyer said that a warrant hadn’t yet been issued
for his arrest.
Sonko came third in Senegal’s
2019 presidential election and is popular with the country’s youth. His supporters
maintain that his legal troubles are part of a government effort to derail his
candidacy in the 2024 presidential election.
Sonko is considered to be
President Macky Sall’s main competition and has urged Sall to state publicly
that he won’t seek a third term in office. Sonko hasn’t been seen or heard from
since the verdict.
The international community
has called on Senegal’s government to resolve the tensions.
The government had already
suspended access to some social media sites, such as Facebook, WhatsApp and
Twitter, which it said was being used to incite violence.
At a news conference on
Saturday evening, the government said it would take all necessary measures to
secure the country.
ALSO READ: Senegal opposition leader Sonko convicted of corrupting youth, acquitted of rape
“I would like to reassure the
Senegalese people that whatever attacks we have, the state will face them,”
Interior Minister Antoine Felix Abdoulaye Diome said. Around 500 people have
been arrested across the country, including those belonging to political
parties as well as those who are just trying to scare people, he said.
Rights groups have condemned
the government crackdown, which it says has included arbitrary arrests.
No comments:
Post a Comment