Sonko has not but determined whether or not to enchantment the sentence within the libel case, his lawyer Bamba Cisse instructed The Related Press.
Sonko was additionally ordered to pay about $330,000 to Tourism Minister Mame Mbaye Niang, who accused the politician of defamation and public insults.
Neither Sonko nor his attorneys had been current on Thursday when the decision and sentence had been delivered.
Every of Sonko’s earlier court docket appearances led to protests within the streets of Dakar, the capital, and Sonko himself was forcibly faraway from his automobile by police on two events. Demonstrations have taken place not solely in Dakar however in cities all through the nation.
Sonko’s supporters see the fees in opposition to him as the most recent try to chop quick his political profession. Sonko completed third in Senegal’s 2019 presidential election and has known as on President Macky Sall to declare publicly that he received’t search a 3rd time period.
The ruling social gathering says Sall ought to be allowed to run after a constitutional change in 2016 — made whereas Sall was president — which modified presidential phrases to 5 years.
Sonko additionally faces rape costs based mostly on accusations from a feminine worker of a therapeutic massage salon who mentioned she was assaulted by him. If convicted, he faces as much as 10 years in jail and could be barred from working for president. No date has been set but for the that trial.
