Senegal court clears opposition leader Sonko for presidential race

  • last year

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Transcript
00:00 latest judgment that Ousmane Sonko should be reinstated on Senegal's electoral list
00:05 has been hailed as a great victory by his lawyers and his supporters. But the Senegalese
00:10 justice system has flip-flopped repeatedly on this issue. In October, a court in the
00:16 southern city of Ziganshore had already ruled that Ousmane Sonko should be reinstated, a
00:22 decision that was overturned just one month later by the country's Supreme Court. My
00:28 colleagues spoke with lawyers for Mr. Sonko and the government earlier on Thursday morning.
00:35 This shows our justice system is still standing. The system has rehabilitated a man who has
00:43 been persecuted and mistreated. Today we can be proud of some of our magistrates.
00:54 We're going to appeal to the courts to overturn this verdict, as we did in Ziganshore. I don't
01:01 see why they're celebrating. Have these people lost their memory? Did they forget what happened
01:06 last time? Ousmane Sonko now has until December 26th
01:11 to submit the papers needed to officially declare his candidacy ahead of the 2024 presidential
01:18 election. An appeal by the government could still derail his ambitions of running for
01:24 high office.

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