News24 | A tale of two Sonkos: Thwarted presidential ambitions in Senegal and a human rights trial in Gambia
Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.
Senegal’s presidential hopeful Ousmane Sonko is fighting to stay on the ballot paper ahead of the country’s elections.In Gambia, former interior minister Ousman Sonko stands on trial for human rights abuses in Switzerland.Senegal will go to the polls on 25 February to choose a president.Jailed Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko’s presidential ambitions were just dealt a huge blow by that country’s Supreme Court – as his near-namesake Ousman Sonko from neighbouring Gambia goes on trial for crimes against humanity.
Both are now likely to remain in the headlines, to the confusion of those who do not routinely follow West African affairs and who may not notice the single “e” that separates their first names.
On Friday, Senegal’s Constitutional Council told the Senegalese Sonko’s lawyer, Cire Cledor Ly, that his application to be on the presidential ballot was incomplete, denying him the opportunity to be a candidate.
Now the country’s Supreme Court has denied his appeal against a libel conviction, making it even more likely that he will sit out the 25 February vote.
Sonko leads the popular Patriotes africains du Sénégal pour le travail, l’éthique et la fraternité (Pastef), which translates as African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity.
His legal woes – and what supporters consider politically-driven persecution – began in 2021, when he was accused of rape.
READ | Senegal Constitutional Council rejects opposition leader’s presidential bid
Violence has flared up intermittently, especially after key court decisions in various matters, and Senegal’s interior ministry dissolved PASTEF.
Sonko’s team is still fighting to get him on the ballot, with a fundraising campaign under way.
In a statement posted on Sonko’s account on X, formerly Twitter, Pastef said: “Here we are, on the final stretch,” and “the time has come to realise this popular will by supporting our campaign for the next presidential election in February 2024, which should lead to the definitive placement of the project dear to our hearts on its launchpad”.
Senegal President Macky Sall will not be standing after his last constitutional term ends.
In his stead is Amadou Ba, currently the country’s prime minister.
For some time, Sall toyed with the likelihood of a third term but that only drove supporters towards Sonko, who came third in the presidential election in 2019.
With Sonko a relatively popular choice, if granted permission to stand, he poses a big challenge to Ba.
However, if he does not stand, Pastef will have Bassirou Diomaye Faye as its candidate.
The Gambian Sonko
Meanwhile, former Gambian interior minister Ousman Sonko, who served between 2006 and 2016 under then-President Yahya Jammeh, will from Monday stand trial for crimes against humanity in Switzerland.
Sonko was arrested in Bern on 26 January 2017, a day after Trial International, a non-governmental organisation fighting impunity for international crimes, filed a criminal complaint against him.
Following a criminal investigation lasting more than six years, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland found that Sonko had a case to answer in 2023.
The charges against him include rape, extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detention, forced disappearances and the use of torture.
MORE HERE | Switzerland arrests ex-Gambian interior minister
Sirra Ndow, coordinator of the Jammeh2Justice campaign – which is made up of victims of the former Gambian regime and international activists – said Sonko’s trial was a breakthrough.
She said:
The Sonko case should reinforce efforts back in Gambia to try crimes under Jammeh’s rule so that perpetrators are held to account for the atrocities committed.
“Sonko is the highest-level former official to be tried under the principle of universal jurisdiction in Europe,” said Philip Grant, executive director at Trial International.
Sonko is the second person tried in Switzerland by a non-military court for major crimes done overseas after Liberia’s Alieu Kosiah.
He is also the second person tried in Europe for crimes committed in Gambia after Bai L, and the highest-ranking official charged in Europe under universal jurisdiction.
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