Political unrest and violence in Senegal must not be used as grounds for restricting the right to report the news, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF), condemning a TV channel’s 48-hour suspension, restrictions on access to the Internet and social media, and the ransacking of a journalism school.

Senegalese government officials said on Saturday June 3, 2023 that the death toll from clashes between police and supporters of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko had risen to 15, Deutsche Welle reports. Two members of the security forces were among those killed in some of the deadliest protests in the western African nation in recent decades.

The violence first broke out on Thursday June 1 after a court sentenced Sonko to two years in prison for “corrupting youth.” However, he was acquitted on charges of sexually assaulting a woman who worked at a massage parlour and making death threats against her. Sonko’s lawyer said a warrant hadn’t yet been issued for his arrest.

The court ruling and protests are happening at the same time as the launch of the national dialogue between the government and the various political and civil society players.

Sonko, an outspoken opponent of President Macky Sall, was reportedly arrested on May 30, 2023, interrupting his cross-country march, which Interior Minister Antoine Diome said needed authorisation. He added that Sonko had not been arrested, but rather “dropped off” at his Dakar home. Sonko called on his supporters to protest on social media against the current government.

For Sonko and his opposition party, this arrest underlined Sall’s intentions to run for a third term, which Sonko has denounced. Sonko said that the 2016 constitutional revision reset the counters and therefore “erased” Macky Sall’s first term that started in 2012. The justice ministry has reset Sall’s term to run from 2019 to 2024.