Senegal opposition figures released 10 days before polls

By AFP Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and his second-in-command, presidential candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye, were released from prison in Dakar on Thursday, 10 days before the country’s election. “They came out in front of us,” lawyer Cheikh Koureyssi Ba said, as an AFP journalist witnessed a motorcade exiting the prison through a large crowd. Their release follows weeks of crisis after President Macky Sall postponed the February 25 presidential vote. It could also dramatically alter the presidential campaign, with Sonko’s powerful rhetoric striking a chord with young voters. Sonko was at the heart of a bitter two-year stand-off with the state and has been in prison since July. The legal case against him, along with economic and social tensions, […]