The opponent and former Prime Minister of Senegal Aminata Touré was arrested Sunday in Dakar by the gendarmerie while she participated in an opposition demonstration against the postponement of the presidential election on February 25, the AFP told the opposition MP Guy Marius Sagna.
“I confirm that Aminata Touré was arrested by the gendarmes
,” declared Mr. Sagna.
Former leader of Senegal appointed by President Macky Sall then moved to the opposition, Ms. Touré, failed presidential candidate, responded on Sunday to a call to protest against the indefinite postponement of the vote, announced on Saturday by the head of state .
Clashes broke out on Sunday in Dakar between security forces and demonstrators protesting against the unprecedented postponement of the presidential election announced the day before by Head of State Macky Sall in a highly volatile atmosphere.
The gendarmes unleashed heavy fire with tear gas grenades against hundreds of men and women of all ages who, Senegal flag in hand or national football team jersey on their backs, converged on one of the main main roads of the capital towards a roundabout where several opposition candidates had arranged to meet them, AFP journalists noted.
Tear gas and stone throwing
The gendarmes, deployed in large numbers, entered the adjacent neighborhoods on foot or in pickup trucks in pursuit of the fleeing demonstrators.
They were then stoned.
Young people chanting
“Macky Sall dictator!”
set up roadblocks with makeshift means and set tires on fire.
Security forces also fired tear gas canisters at the numerous supporters of Khalifa Sall who had gathered near their candidate's headquarters.
Several women felt unwell from the effects of the gas.
Also readPostponement of the presidential election: how did Senegal get there?
In addition to Aminata Touré, AFP was initially unable to confirm information according to which a presidential candidate, Anta Babacar Ngom, was also detained.
Images published on social networks show her struggling with members of the security forces.
Another candidate, Daouda Ndiaye, posted a message on social networks where he claims to have been
“brutalized”
by the police, and reports that some of his collaborators were
“arrested”
.
The Senegalese authorities also suspended the signal of a private television station on Sunday, guilty according to them of
"inciting violence"
through its images of the protests, an official from the Ministry of Communication told AFP.
The ministry,
“in agreement with the National Audiovisual Regulatory Council (CNRA), ordered Walf TV broadcasters to temporarily cut the signal for inciting violence
,” its director told AFP. of communication, Ousseynou Dieng.
The Walf group announced on social networks a
“final withdrawal of its license by the State”
.
The campaign maintained by several opposition candidates
The postponement of the presidential election sparked an outcry and raised fears of an attack of fever in a country renowned as an island of stability in West Africa, but which has experienced various episodes of deadly unrest since 2021. The announcement also provoked concern abroad.
Several opposition candidates announced to the press their decision to ignore the ruling and maintain the launch of their campaigns.
This is the first time since 1963 that a presidential election by direct universal suffrage has been postponed in Senegal, a country which has never experienced a coup d'état, a rarity on the continent.
President Sall invoked the conflict which broke out between the Constitutional Council and the National Assembly after the final validation by the court of twenty candidacies and the elimination of several dozen others.
MPs are due to meet on Monday to examine a bill to postpone the presidential election for six months, AFP learned from Parliament.
The text must be approved by 3/5 of the 165 deputies to be validated.
This debate promises to be another highlight of the crisis and approval of the text does not seem certain.