Persisting in his conspiracy theory in the rape case which opposes him to Adji Sarr, Ousmane Sonko does not see the resolution of the trial, not in the verdict of the judges, but in a balance of power in his favour that would give him the crowds he wants to launch an assault on institutions. It remains to be seen what the reaction of the authorities will be.

Ousmane Sonko, who did not appear at the Dakar Court the day before yesterday to face Adji Sarr, prefers to take refuge once again, as usual, since March 2021, behind masses of young people. His strategy of “civil disobedience” towards Justice having not worked, the leader of the Pastef party wants to measure himself against the State in the streets. He prefers to ignore that all state authorities have already warned that they will not let what happened just over two years ago happen again. All we will have to hope for in the confrontation that the « Chief Patriot » promises us is that we don’t have to pick up corpses in our streets. Because there is a very strong probability that once again, in this new episode of the « Sweet Beauty » soap opera, Ousmane Sonko will not see a « Happy End » from his disastrous massage.

Sonko-Adji Sarr Trial: Torrid Revelations of Adji Sarr

As said before the bar of the Criminal Chamber by Lawyer Adama Fall, one of the counsels of Adji Sarr, Ousmane Sonko, from the start, wanted to place this case on the ground of politics. Instead of trying to plead the merits or find common ground with his accuser, he spoke of conspiracy from day one. The chief plotter being President Macky Sall (to whom he had denied all legitimacy in March 2021, assuring that he would now only call him by his name, without the title of his dignity…, before turning around months late), he used lieutenants and (many) accomplices.

From the start, there was Minister Antoine Félix Diome, then the latter’s wife, Lawyer Dior Diagne, followed by many others, such as Mamour Diallo, whom Ousmane Sonko tends to see in several shady cases of this country, his adversary in Louga, Mberry Sylla, or the lawyer Gaby Sô. In the plot, he added as the case progressed, such important figures as General of the Gendarmerie Moussa Fall, the wife of the Head of State, Marième Faye Sall, his son Amadou, Colonel Mbengue of the Research Section. The former attorney General, Malick Sall, as well as magistrates Serigne Bassirou Guèye, Oumar Maham Diallo, or the late Samba Sall whose death literally delighted some supporters of the Pastef party on social networks, all of these people were cited as having a more or less important role in the plot to « stop the Project », as the leader of the Pastef party puts it.

Gynecologist Alphousseyni Gaye on the Results of his Diagnosis: « Sperm Was Found in Adji Sarr’s Sex »

The common point of all these characters and their crippling fault in the imagination of Ousmane Sonko was to support Adji Sarr by encouraging her to go through with her complaint. The strategy of rupture thus applied had an effect at the beginning: Judge Mamadou Seck, who was the first to inherit the file of the “Sweet Beauty” case, quickly declined, citing family ties with Casamance. As if, already, it was a matter between the Casamançais and other Senegalese…

Nevertheless, it was a stretched pole which the leader of the Pastef party and his supporters did not hesitate to use and abuse, accusing President Macky Sall, as well as all their adversaries, of enmity towards the Casamançais… or even the Diola ethnic group, as they want to do with the Mancagnes around Minister Victorine Ndeye. The problem with such a strategy is that it does not allow a case to be argued on the merits. But yesterday, Ousmane Sonko said it: this case is political and can only have a political solution. The policy here, will consist for Ousmane Sonko, in sending young people and populations in the streets to confront the Forces of order, and to bring Macky Sall to give up imprisoning him and depriving him of his rights.

By refusing, as predicted by his accuser Adji Sarr, to appear at the bar to defend himself, Ousmane Sonko decided to be tried in absentia. However, the consequences of this strategy are deadly for a politician who already sees only a presidential future. By not appearing at the Court, he de facto deprived his many counsels of the right to speak. Judge Issa Ndiaye was extremely courteous by letting them plead for more than an hour, in an attempt to convince him to postpone the trial. Nothing in the Code of Criminal Procedure required it. Moreover, once the trial was held, his lawyers had nothing more to do in the room, except to attend as mere spectators. Those among them who chose to constitute themselves in the room for the benefit of the co-accused Ndèye Khady Ndiaye did not hesitate to abandon the latter in the middle of the trial, dragging their other colleagues who advised the lady, and leaving the latter without legal defence. A way of showing that only the person of Sonko Ousmane mattered, thus it was necessary to « save the Project ».

If today, he wants to see himself rehabilitated, he will necessarily have to give himself up as a prisoner, in order to be able to oppose the possible condemnation which could be imposed on him on June 1st.

Sweet Beauty Trial: The Testimonies of Dr Gaye, Omar Touré, Sidi Ahmet Mbaye…

But, Ousmane Sonko sees things differently. Since, according to him, Justice is under the orders of Macky Sall, the latter must be forced, by a balance of power in the streets, to push back this Justice.

This is the only way for him to avoid a total decline. But in doing so, the leader of the Pastef party has crossed a higher bar in his strategy of rupture. He openly calls this time for confrontation with the institutions of the Republic. How will they react to this latest bravado? Will the state let the “People of Pastef” unroll its “Sonko Freedom Caravan”, punctuate the march of the country? The answers to these questions will make it possible to see whether the break-up strategy which, here, does not hesitate to plunge many families into mourning and grief, will have paid off or not.

The paradox is that this individual declares that he aspires to lead this country one day. Does he sincerely believe that by instilling in young people the virus of violence and civil disobedience, he will be able to build a better future for everyone? How would he react if, once in power, his opponents applied his methods to him? This question is not speculative. There were similar Sonkos in Germany in the 1930s, as well as in Egypt between 2012 and 2013. People who came to power through the ballot box and who, once installed, began to wring the neck of democracy. Unlike the others, Ousmane Sonko only recognizes the virtues of democracy when it suits him.

By Mohamed GUEYE / mgueye@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH