An activist and a preacher were taken into police custody in Dakar after attacking Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko and his recent comments on homosexuality.
Two men, an activist and a preacher, are under investigation for “spreading fake news” And “insulted” against the head of government, said a Source close to the investigation.
The activist Bah Diakhaté, arrested on May 20 by the Criminal Investigation Division (Dic, judicial police), engaged in a video in attacks against the person of Ousmane Sonko after a statement by the latter on the theme of homosexuality on May 16.
(Re)see Senegal: Ousmane Sonko’s criticism of France
The preacher Cheikh Ahmed Tidiane Ndao, placed in police custody on May 21 by the same services, criticized the Prime Minister in another video for what he denounces as complacency with regard to homosexuality.
The debate on homosexuality resurfaced in Senegal after the remarks made on May 16 by Ousmane Sonko during the visit of the French radical left opponent Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Criticizes an imposed lifestyle
Ousmane Sonko, champion of sovereignism and pan-Africanism imbued with social concerns and traditional values, criticized the attempts of Western countries to impose their way of life on African countries and to push for the legalization of homosexuality. He spoke of “casus belli“.
Homosexuality is widely considered a deviance in Senegal where the law punishes so-called “acts” with imprisonment of one to five years.unnatural with an individual of the same sex“. Ousmane Sonko calls for respect from Western countries for the specificities of African societies for which, according to him, “the gender issue is not new” and that “THE (manage) their way“.
(Re)see Senegal: Mélenchon invited by Sonko for a debate in Dakar
“From the dawn of time until now, societies have lived with these phenomena and there has never been persecution, neither here in Senegal nor anywhere in Africa.“, he said. If the fact “is not accepted, it is tolerated“, he said. Circles close to religious people, opponents and activists criticized Ousmane Sonko for having defended tolerance towards homosexuality and for having offered Jean-Luc Mélenchon a platform to plead the cause of sexual minorities.
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