Senegalese opponent Sonko sentenced to 2 years for 'corrupting youth'
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Transcript
00:00 Well, Senegal is bracing for possible violence with the court issuing a verdict of two years
00:05 in prison in the rape trial of Ousmane Sanco.
00:08 The opposition leader considers the charges against him a political ploy and has been
00:11 calling for mass protests.
00:14 The guilty verdict ostensibly renders him ineligible to run in next year's presidential
00:18 race.
00:19 We can cross now to our correspondent in Senegal, Sam Bradpiece.
00:23 So Sam, just tell us more about this verdict and has there been any early reaction?
00:28 So, what happened essentially is that the judge decided to drop the elements of the
00:36 case regarding rape and sending a death threat to the alleged rape victim.
00:42 Those charges were effectively dropped and Ousmane Sanco has been sentenced for two years
00:47 for a crime which directly translated you could say is corrupting the youth.
00:53 In other words, by frequenting this so-called beauty salon which was really more of a brothel
00:58 according to what we heard in court, he was encouraging young women to get involved essentially
01:05 in the sex trade.
01:07 So he's been sentenced for that, two years in prison.
01:11 It's still unclear whether the prosecution or Mr. Sanco will appeal this.
01:17 The prosecution, remember, had been calling for a ten-year prison sentence for Ousmane
01:21 Sanco for rape.
01:24 And so from their perspective, they won't be too happy.
01:27 Also from the perspective of Aji Sa, the young employee at this beauty salon, things aren't
01:34 all rosy.
01:35 She was crying in the courtroom today when the verdict was read out.
01:39 Ousmane Sanco had been calling for mass protests in advance of this verdict being announced.
01:45 Did that materialize?
01:47 And what can we expect now that this ruling has come down?
01:50 There have been protests in the week leading up, well, in the weeks really I should say,
01:56 leading up to this verdict.
01:59 Now I think we can expect some degree of unrest in Senegal, particularly the place we're perhaps
02:05 most concerned about is the area around Ousmane Sanco's Dakar residence.
02:10 Ousmane Sanco himself never actually came to trial today.
02:13 He could have come but was essentially under house arrest.
02:18 And there's a huge police presence throughout the city of Dakar and in other parts of the
02:23 country as well.
02:25 It's unclear at this stage whether that police presence will be enough to dissuade people
02:30 from taking to the streets.
02:32 As I've mentioned already on France 24, many of Ousmane Sanco's supporters don't see this
02:40 trial itself and don't see the judicial system as a legitimate one or an independent one,
02:45 a fair one.
02:46 So they will not be happy with today's verdict and we can expect some unrest in the streets.
02:52 Okay.
02:53 Our correspondent in Senegal, Sam Bradpeace.
02:54 Sam, thanks for bringing us that late breaking news.