Senegal court gives opposition leader suspended term

A Senegal court on Thursday handed a two-month suspended sentence to opposition leader Ousmane Sonko after a  libel trial his lawyers said will not rule him out of the 2024 presidential election. 

The 48-year-old was found guilty of defaming Tourism Minister Mame Mbaye Niang, a member of President Macky Sall's party.

"With two months suspended Sonko is still eligible," lawyers  Bamba Cisse and Cheikh Khoureyssi Ba said.

The claim could not be immediately confirmed by AFP.

Senegal has lived  another tense week with the resumption of the trial, with Sonko and his supporters accusing the government of using the justice system to try to prevent him from running in next year's election.

It had been feared the outcome of the defamation trial could have left Sonko ineligible to stand for the presidency under current legislation.

The presidential party accuses Sonko, who came third in the last vote in 2019, of seeking to paralyse the country and of drumming up anger on the streets in a bid to escape justice.

Police were deployed in large numbers in the capital Dakar and had on Wednesday fired tear gas during clashes with students trying to hold  a banned demonstration.

The tensions have considerably slowed down activities in the capital. School and university holidays have been brought forward. Public transport was suspended on Wednesday while banks closed early.

Violence had flared in several cities since the trial opened on March 16.

The court also ordered Sonko to pay 200 million CFA francs (300,000 euros) to the minister who accused him of defaming him in relation to his management of a community agriculture programme.