A courtroom in Senegal sentences the opposition chief to a suspended jail time period

The minister’s lawyer, El Hadji Diouf, stated {that a} outstanding opposition politician in Senegal, Ousmane Sonko, obtained, on Thursday, a two-month suspended jail sentence for defamation in a case involving the Minister of Tourism.

One other lawyer representing the tourism minister instructed Reuters the ruling wouldn’t stop him from working in subsequent yr’s presidential elections.

There was no instant assertion from Sonko’s workforce.

Sonko was charged with defamation for accusing the Minister of Tourism of embezzlement. He denied any wrongdoing and stated earlier that the fees towards him had been a tactic to exclude him from the presidential race.

“The decision is the sentencing of Ousmane Sonko to a suspended jail sentence of two months and fee of 200 million CFA francs ($332,000),” Diouf instructed Reuters.

The defamation trial, and one other separate case during which Sonko was accused of sexual assault, sparked violent protests throughout the nation. Sonko additionally denied any wrongdoing within the sexual assault case.

(Reuters)