A 19-year-old boy died on Saturday from injuries sustained during a demonstration in southern Senegal, bringing to three the number of deaths in the country since the start of the crisis linked to the postponement of the presidential election.
In Ziguinchor, a
“19-year-old boy received a projectile on the head and died of his injuries in the intensive care unit yesterday evening
,” a hospital official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“There were several serious injuries during the protests and one died.
"He was shot in the head
," Abdou Sané, coordinator of the opposition Pastef party in Ziguinchor, told AFP, who specified that the boy was a high school student who lived in the neighborhood commonly called
"Grand Dakar”
in Ziguinchor.
Most towns in Senegal remained calm on Saturday but spontaneous demonstrations continued in this town of Casamance, stronghold of imprisoned opponent Ousmane Sonko.
Demonstration launched by a civil society collective
On Saturday, an investigation was opened after the death on Friday of a geography student in Saint-Louis (north) in circumstances that are still unclear, and a street vendor died of his injuries on Saturday in Dakar, a victim according to his relatives of a police shooting the day before.
A new demonstration launched by a civil society collective, Aar Sunu Election (
“Let’s protect our election”
) is planned for Tuesday.
President Macky Sall took everyone by surprise by postponing the elections three weeks before the vote, a decision ratified by the National Assembly which voted to postpone the electoral deadline until December 15, after having expelled by force the opposition MPs.
The Assembly also voted to maintain Mr. Sall in power until his successor takes office, probably in early 2025. His second term officially expired on April 2.