To save his skin, and to avoid paying the price for his turpitude in the brothel of Sweet Beauty, Ousmane Sonko adopted the strategy of « after me the downpour », so that no one should survive him. We can say that this strategy worked for him, but only in part, because if he was spared a conviction for rape, he nonetheless received a two-year prison sentence for « corruption of youth ». Neither the complainant Adji Sarr nor the defense could be completely satisfied with this decision. Only the public prosecutor can be happy to have been able to save his case. The representative of the Public Prosecutor’s Office had the idea, at the end of his fiery indictment, during the trial of May 22, 2023, to extend a pole to the court by making requisitions requesting in the alternative a conviction for corruption of a person under the age of 21 years. The power of Macky Sall can also be satisfied with a conviction decision because an acquittal would be a telluric earthquake and would give wings to Ousmane Sonko.

In absolute terms, the court decision could have been read as a good sentence, given the evidence presented in court, if and only if the main defendant had appeared before the bar to defend himself against the serious charges. It is a first in the judicial annals that the judges replace an accused tried in absentia, to find him elements of excuses or exoneration or even mitigating circumstances. The jurisprudential principle remains to systematically condemn the contumax, especially since the rule is to resume the trial once he has surrendered or been arrested in the context of the execution of the decision. It is in a way the application of the principle that « no one pleads by prosecutor ».

In other words, this is where the flawed side of the decision rendered by Judge Issa Ndiaye and his assessors in the criminal chamber lies. We can thus consider that the bravado, threats and defiance of Ousmane Sonko have somehow had a deterrent effect on the judges. Indeed, it has been permitted and granted to him, which has never been admitted for a litigant before any court in the world. In addition, the criminal chamber, which will have to try the case again, has tied its hands. In the event of a new trial, therefore in the presence of the accused Sonko and his defence, if she were to enter the process of sentencing, she could not back down and/or have a heavier hand than during the first trial. What would be the consistency of finding excuses for a fugitive who has not defended himself and not finally acknowledging them when the person manages to invoke them himself before the bar among other means of defense?

Certainly, the judges, helped by the prosecution, made the effort to anticipate a possible new trial by deciding on a disqualification. I remain convinced, however, that in the state of the evidence presented before the bar, which undoubtedly establishes only acts of sexual conjunction without one being able to be clear about their forced or consensual nature, the wisdom of a judge imposes on him not to enter in the process of condemnation for the offense of rape.

Only the transcendent effort that allowed the judges to disqualify the facts would also have allowed them, in another sense, to convict for rape.

Read the column: Senegalese opposition: « Do as I say, but not as I do »

Moreover, the conviction for “youth corruption” by sexual acts in a place of debauchery is infamous and demeaning for Ousmane Sonko who aspires to become President of the Republic. The sordid unpacking in front of the court of his sexual antics, torrid stories which are found even in the smartphones of his fellow citizens, will make him a strange candidate for the post of Head of State. We wrote in a column dated 23 May 2022: « If in 2024, Ousmane Sonko has the chance to become President of Senegal, it will inevitably be a self-humiliation for his people who will be ashamed to see the sexual intercourse or the images of the intimate anatomy of the first of the citizens in the smartphones of his compatriots. He will be « a naked President. » Frankly, if the man lacks much scruple to continue trying to lead his people, we cannot despair that in a burst of dignity and respect for themselves, his compatriots will avoid the humiliation of making him the first of them. This is Ousmane Sonko’s greatest setback because he had sworn to himself that violence and threats would prevent a public trial from being held. He will have learned and especially his lawyers will have learned at their expense, that one cannot, without costs, defy Justice.

The ridiculous presence of his lawyers on the day of the deliberation of June 01, 2023, to request a reopening of the proceedings, when they had decided to boycott the hearing of the pleadings of the previous week, constitutes a scathing admission of their misdirection. The desperate plea of Lawyer Ciré Clédor Ly who asked for a dismissal to « go get his client and have him appear willingly or by force » was just as pathetic. Prosecutor Abdou Karim Diop was able to mock by throwing at them: “you are jokers”. The lawyers had resigned themselves to pleading through newspaper columns and television sets. It is clear that Ousmane Sonko has always dictated his lawyers and not the opposite! Thus, we measured the hangover of lawyer Bamba Cissé after the verdict was delivered.

Another lesson of the trial is that it will have allowed the public to observe the repeated lies of Ousmane Sonko with the fable of a plot orchestrated by Macky Sall to remove a political opponent. Not once, despite the length and exhaustiveness of the debates before the bar, has the thesis of an alleged conspiracy been raised to be substantiated. On the contrary, what was discussed and brought to light remains the gaps and weaknesses of a man called Ousmane Sonko. This means that mothers and fathers, magistrates, police and gendarmerie officers, parliamentarians, ministers, a President of the Republic and his wife, journalists and lawyers were falsely accused! Shameless…

Macky Sall’s back on the wall

The country is not finished with this affair, let alone having to deplore its tumultuous consequences. The Minister of Justice, Ismaïla Madior Fall, broke open doors by stressing « that a decision of Justice is made to be applied ». Does he doubt the application of the verdict condemning Ousmane Sonko? We can believe it because if the State was in these dispositions, it would have arrested Sonko a very long time ago; the opportunity was not missed. On the contrary, he was spared, unlike his lieutenants. In truth, we have never seen a man call so much for insurrection and murder without ever being disturbed.  Simple insurrectional inclinations and death threats, moreover publicly assumed, against magistrates and persons holding state authority, have always and in all countries been sanctioned and repressed, all the more so when such threats were followed by dramatic effects. Since March 2021, Ousmane Sonko and his Pastef party have entered into an insurrectional logic, destabilization of the State and republican institutions. Their plan to sow chaos is well established.

Read the column: Ousmane Sonko, the Flee of a Surrounded Man

If we still needed to make sure that this party is anarchist and anti-republican, the proof is now definitively made. It is in this sense that we have constantly sounded the alarm, in a chronicle of February 15, 2023 we urged the State authorities to Stop Sonko before it’s too late! There is no shortage of good reasons to prevent Ousmane Sonko from doing anything. The case of the alleged rapes complaint by Adji Sarr could have been enough to put him away, even if some would still find fault with it. Even in this case, the violations of the secrecy of the investigation and especially the other types of repeated violations of the conditions of his judicial supervision, give sufficient reason to revoke this measure. Moreover, his multiple calls for insurrection, followed by violent and bloody effects on 6, 7 and 8 March 2021, with their macabre toll of 14 people killed, or calls to prevent the holding of legislative elections in 2022 (4 deaths) should lead him to prison; as well as contempt for judges, bravado, discrediting public institutions, insults and   lies and attacks against persons invested with state authority (Justice, police, army, gendarmerie). The Pastef party finances its political activities in flagrant violation of all legal and democratic rules.

All these facts are legitimate reasons that would send any other citizen into detention! In what country in the world can a citizen threaten in front of the television cameras to kill the head of state or to send 200,000 demonstrators to dislodge him from the Palace and stay at home sleeping? In what country in the world would a politician order his driver to run into a police checkpoint and go home quietly? 

We want to let it be known that every step backwards the State takes, Ousmane Sonko and his supporters will take three steps forward to trample the rule of law.

Allowing the idea to flourish of Ousmane Sonko seeking to go to prison for less infamous reasons than the case of rape and other sexual abuse; we prefer to say that the reason would not matter, as long as his imprisonment would result from a serious and effective violation of the law of the Republic! These lines are more relevant than ever in view of the consequences of the judicial verdict convicting Ousmane Sonko. Macky Sall and his government are overtaken by their wait-and-see attitude or their rotting strategy. They can no longer take half a step back. By dint of postponing the confrontation, they end up with their backs to the wall. If Ousmane Sonko goes unpunished, it will become illegitimate to continue attacking any other citizen. Justice has done its part of the job, it will be up to the other institutions to do theirs. Any evasion or alibi can no longer prosper.

Ousmane Sonko wants a civil war and Alioune Tine already theorised it

Anyway, with Ousmane Sonko, we have to know what to expect. He never hid his game or sought to advance masked. He makes no secret of his desire to dislodge Macky Sall from power by violence and force and we can well believe that nothing will divert him from this objective. He will implement it, to the limit of his possibilities. Also, he likes to count the maximum number of deaths and damages. He clearly implied that there will be many deaths and in a staggering cynicism he tells his henchmen that « if you die your mothers will give birth again » or that « to stop him, Macky Sall will have to get his hands dirty » (of blood). One could not be clearer in intentions to sow chaos and turn the country upside down. It is in this spirit that we can note that most of the dead counted cannot be victims of the defense and security forces who have already paid too heavy a price. Protesters are armed and have been seen opening fire. How many times have we warned about the commitment of guerrillas of all kinds alongside Ousmane Sonko? If we wanted to avoid picking up bodies, unfortunately we will not have succeeded. The strategy of seeking to install chaos is implemented. He seeks to start a civil war and we must listen to the evocations, audible and repeated allusions of Alioune Tine since January 2023.

A dozen too many dead were counted last week and the macabre count does not seem to be over. It must be said that the balance sheet is already too heavy and everything suggests that it will be more so and for good reason! The state authorities have allowed themselves to be overwhelmed and do not seem to have taken the full measure of the situation. In March 2021, the state could have the excuse of the surprise element, or of having more or less underestimated the danger and the threats and inclinations of violence. The time given to Ousmane Sonko, following procrastination between Adji Sarr’s complaint and his actual appearance before the investigators, had allowed him to prepare and develop harmful insurrectionary strategies and actions. Subsequently, the balance of power could be reversed and vigilance was required. Thus, more than once, Ousmane Sonko was arrested and taken, without firing a shot, by the security forces, to the destination of their choice. All the provisions had ended up being taken so that tranquility returned to the city on the days of the appearance in court of the leader of Pastef. The fatal error will have been to let go of ballast when he announced that he would not appear at his judgment.

Read the column: The Little “Trojan Horses” of Ousmane Sonko

With a certain flippancy that borders on naivety, the State authorities had somehow found it convenient, believing that there would be no more confrontation as soon as the person refused to appear before their judges. In this little calculation, which we wouldn’t hesitate to call cowardly and which may have prompted us not to issue a writ of arrest, we imagined that a conviction that had become a fatality would pass like a letter to the job. It was frankly short-sightedness because who could believe that Ousmane Sonko was going to let himself be led like a lamb to the altar of sacrifice?  Thus, withdrawn in Casamance, he took the time to organize what he himself called the « Final Tchoki » (Editor’s note: ultimate fight). All the ranks and back ranks of his cronies, including the separatist rebels and other dark forces, were called in as reinforcement. Information about this mobilization was shared through social networks with hundreds of « combatants » who had stormed the boats with arms and luggage to reach Dakar, a place clearly indicated by their warlord as the theatre of the final battle.  Had measures been taken to prevent or stem this influx of young people to Dakar who were buying bladed weapons in full view of everyone? Were passengers of the boats that have shuttled between Ziguinchor and Dakar checked in recent days to ensure that firearms have not been transported?

The trial agenda was set by the State and therefore the authorities had all the leeway to coordinate so as not to give the impression of having been surprised by the induced effects. The cup is more than full and the material and human damage is piling up, even if we can always be consoled that no neuralgic or strategic target of the State could be reached and that the sporadic disturbances are mainly the result of onlookers and other paid and encouraged thugs or opportunistic looters who help themselves cheerfully. Is it a strategy or a police tactic known as « encirclement », which would consist in some way of trying to exhaust the demonstrators, arresting as many of them as possible as well as their leaders in order to further isolate Ousmane Sonko before going for him?

By Madiambal DIAGNE / mdiagne@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH