Dakar – A Senegalese opposition lawmaker was on Friday released from jail after being held for a month for allegedly offending President Macky Sall, his lawyer said.
Sheikh Abdou Mbacke Bara Dolly is a member of an opposition coalition allied with another led by the main Senegalese opposition contender for the July 31 elections, Ousmane Sonko.
The member of parliament had made critical remarks about Sall’s private life during a demonstration by the two coalitions in Dakar on June 8, and police took him into custody.
He “publicly made outrageous remarks against the president of the republic”, the justice minister had announced.
ALSO READ | Senegalese heed opposition’s call for noisy protest ahead of vote
Mbacke Bara Dolly was charged with offending the head of state and spreading false news and remarks contrary to morality.
“He’s just left (prison),” his lawyer Ibrahima Diaw told AFP.
“He has been granted a provisional release” after offering an “apology” to the president during a hearing on Thursday, Diaw added.
Tension has been high in Senegal ahead of the legislative elections.
Sonko came third in the 2019 presidential election and has declared he will run again in 2024.
Sonko and several other leading figures in his Yewwi Askan Wi coalition have been banned from taking part in the elections.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Source: AFP
Picture: Getty Images
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
