Senegal's top opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, was released from jail late Thursday, March 14, ahead of the country's presidential election scheduled for March 24, declared his lawyer Bamba Cisse. Sonko's key ally, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, was also set free.
Supporters gathered at Sonko's house and at other locations in the capital Dakar to celebrate his release. Drivers tooted their horns in celebration. It wasn't immediately clear how their releases would impact the election.
Sonko had been in prison since July and has fought a prolonged legal battle to run for president in the upcoming election; Faye was named as the opposition's election candidate after he was barred from running. Ousmane Sonko, who finished third in the country's 2019 presidential election, is widely seen as the main challenger to President Macky Sall's ruling party. Sall himself ultimately decided not to seek a third term in office after Sonko's supporters launched months of protests that at times turned deadly.
The protests have rocked Senegal's image as a pillar of stability in West Africa, a region that has seen dozens of coups and attempted coups in recent decades.
Sonko's presidential bid has faced a prolonged legal battle that started when he was accused of rape in 2021. He was acquitted of the rape charges but was convicted of corrupting youth and sentenced to two years in prison last summer, which ignited deadly protests across the country. Sonko was disqualified from the ballot because he faces a six-month suspended sentence following his conviction for defamation, Senegal's highest election authority, the Constitutional Council, said in January. His supporters maintain his legal troubles are part of a government effort to derail his candidacy in the 2024 presidential election.
His release follows Sall's decree to exonerate political prisoners, including hundreds who were arrested in the violent protests last year.