The country’s No. 1 challenger, the founder of the dissolved Pastef Party, Osmane Sonko, and his loyal lieutenant and March 24 presidential candidate, Basirou Diomey Faye, walked out of Cape Manuel Prison this Thursday evening.
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With our correspondent in Dakar, Leigh-Lisa Westerhoff
Ten days before the presidential election, Both men are free. They left Cap Manuel prison shortly before midnight in a vehicle with tinted windows. Surrounding the vehicle, a crowd of jubilant sympathizers was present. To celebrate this liberation, a young man climbed onto the rear bumper of a car waving a Senegalese flag.
As soon as he left the prison, a convoy of dozens of vehicles made their way to Cité Cure Gorgui, the Dakar district where Ousmane Sonko lives, creating a massive traffic jam and spontaneous demonstrations. On the march, hundreds of people, glittering bracelets and flags of the color of Pastef on their wrists Senegal With hands, took to the streets and with cheers, with horns or shouts of joy, protestors.
” It is a victory for justice and Senegal »
” It is a victory for justice and Senegal », confessed a young woman who hastened from home to witness this deliverance. ” He is a young leader », a Senegalese rejoiced. The youngsters came in droves to witness the release which was awaited for many days.
It is a new Senegal. We understand that the youth are really aware of the issues.
Reactions from Dakar
Basirou Diomey Fay was arrested in April for contempt of court after a Facebook post. Usmane Sonko was arrested in late July, after others were accused of calling for rebellion. They were released this Thursday evening after being adopted by Senegalese deputies Amnesty Law On crimes committed during protests between February 2021 and 2024.
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