CNN
—
Senegal’s foreign ministry announced Tuesday it will temporarily close its consulates abroad amid heightened political tensions that have fueled attacks on its diplomatic missions in Paris, Bordeaux, Milan and New York.
Deadly protests broke out last week in the Senegalese capital Dakar and other cities, following the conviction of popular opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.
Several days of unrest left at least 16 people dead and hundreds injured as Sonko’s supporters clashed with security forces.
The consequences of the crisis have reverberated abroad with the Senegalese diaspora leading demonstrations at the country’s consulates abroad.
His says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is taking a “precautionary measure” to temporarily close its diplomatic missions in France, Italy and the United States, following a “series of attacks”.
The Senegalese consulate in Milan was the worst affected, the ministry said, noting that “machines used to produce passports and national identity cards were destroyed.”
He added that services will resume at the consulates “as soon as material and security conditions allow.”
More than 40 protesters believed to be supporters of Sonko converged on the Senegalese consulate in Milan on Monday, the Italian public broadcaster. RAI reportedadding that the consulate building was ransacked and Consul General Mamadou Lamine Diouf was attacked.
Calm has slowly returned to the Senegalese capital after deadly clashes, the country’s Red Cross told CNN.
“Only one case of demonstration was observed yesterday (Monday) in Malika, on the outskirts of Dakar,” said Nfaly Sadio of the Senegalese Red Cross.
“The total number of injured rescued by the Red Cross was 357,” he told CNN on Tuesday.
Tensions, however, remain high and there are fears that protests could flare up again as uncertainty swirls around Sonko’s sentence which could jeopardize his chances of running for the presidency. next year
Sonko has yet to be arrested after being convicted last week of “corruption of youths” which under the country’s penal code is “immoral conduct” towards a person under the age of 21. He was absent from court when the sentence was handed down on Thursday.
He was acquitted of a charge of rape and death threats against an employee of a massage parlor.
Minister of Justice Ismaila Madior Fall he said Senegalese media that the state is ready to arrest the opposition leader once it receives the go-ahead from the country’s prosecutor’s office. The arrest can happen at any time, he added.
Companies were gradually reopening in the capital Dakar where there are public and private buildings they were destroyed as protesters clashed with riot police.
Other troubled cities affected by the deadly clashes are also returning to normal, local media reported.
Sonko leads Senegal’s African Patriots for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (PASTEF) and enjoys broad support among the country’s youth.
When he was first arrested on rape charges in 2021, an angry youth clashed with police, leaving at least eight people dead, Amnesty International reported at the time.
Senegal is considered one of the most stable democracies in West Africa, but in recent years it has been rocked by deadly protests, mainly by young people frustrated by unemployment, inequality and corruption.
After the 2021 protests, President Macky Sall said he understood their anger and pledged to provide additional funding and more employment opportunities.
However, he has not spoken out publicly during recent demonstrations and some Senegalese have called him out.
“Senegal experienced a tragedy that moved the whole world. Unarmed protesters, or at most equipped with harmless stones against armored vehicles and shields, the blind repression launched against these citizens produced 16 deaths in 2 days. Not even Macky’s tweet. Contempt,” he tweeted journalist Pape Alé Niang.
Sall has recently participated in peace negotiations with the African Union over the war between Russia and Ukraine, seconds in his office
