Ousmane Sonko

Senegal erupts in protests after the arrest of the opposition leader

In the past few weeks, protests have spread across Senegal, spurred by the arrest of the opposition party leader Ousmane Sonko. Sonko was arrested for rape, a charge many consider false and politically motivated given that the current head of the Senegalese government has a history of creating legal charges to suppress opponents. Despite this, In 2019, Senegal was categorized as one of the most democratic countries in Africa by the Economist Intelligence Unit.