The administrator of the Pastef party, Biram Souleye Diop and Abass Fall, coordinator of the Dakar section, were granted a provisional release on Thursday 25 March 2021. After the release of Guy Marius Sagna, Assane Diouf and Clédore Sène the day before, the two members of Pastef-les Patriotes returned home after more than a month in detention. They were being prosecuted for “conspiracy to commit crimes, complicity in the dissemination of material contrary to morality, threat of assault and violence.”
The releases continue in Senegal. After the release of activists Guy Marius Sagna, Assane Diouf and Cledore Sène yesterday Wednesday, March 24, Birame Soulèye Diop, administrator of Pastef and Abass Fall, coordinator Pastef Dakar, were granted a provisional release on Thursday, March 25. They were generally prosecuted for calling for violence and threatening to destroy the property of people belonging to the ruling Alliance For the Republic (APR). Indeed, before their arrest, police had spotted leaked audio messages from restricted WhatsApp groups in which young people claiming to be part of Ousmane Sonko’s party were calling for «to lead a hard life to the Forces de l’Ordre, to set fire to French companies, but also to set fire to houses close to the power».
Patricia Mariame Ngandoul, wife of the administrator of the Pastef party, Birame Souleye DIOP was arrested following a complaint from Mahmoud Saleh, Minister of State and Chief of Staff of President Macky Sall. Then, Biram Souleye Diop and Abass Fall, suspected of fomenting this vendetta were arrested and placed under warrant of deposit on February 23, 2021.
All these arrests followed the complaint filed by a 21-year-old masseuse, Adji Sarr, on February 3. The latter accuses the main opponent and leader of Pastef les Patriotes, Ousmane Sonko, of rape and death threat. The arrest of Ousmane Sonko on Thursday 4 March provoked a wave of demonstrations throughout the country, resulting in 14 deaths and more than 590 injuries. The leader of Pastef has been indicted and placed under judicial control since Monday, March 8, even though he continues to shout at the plot hatched by the Head of State Macky Sall..
These releases were a requirement of the Movement for the Defense of Democracy (M2D), civil society and religious leaders of the country. The process of describing space and peacekeeping is thus launched.
