DAKAR (Reuters) – Senegalese opposition firebrand Ousmane Sonko and the presidential candidate he is backing in the March 24 election, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, were released from prison on Thursday, state broadcaster RTS said on its website.
Their release had been expected in the wake of an amnesty law passed by parliament on March 6 as the authorities sought to ease tensions after their thwarted bid to postpone the vote by 10 months.
RTS did not give further details, and it was not immediately clear where the pair were following their release. Thousands of supporters massed on the street where Sonko lives in Dakar, the capital, chanting his name and dancing while holding posters of him.
Sonko has called on his supporters to back Faye in the presidential race – a concern for competitors as Sonko enjoys widespread support, particularly among young people frustrated with economic hardships and a lack of jobs in the West African country of 17 million.
Members of Sonko’s dissolved Pastef party and other parties formed a coalition and picked Faye as a candidate in November after Sonko was disqualified over a defamation conviction he said was politically motivated. The authorities deny this.
Faye, who was relatively unknown and also in detention, remained eligible because there has been no ruling yet against him linked to charges including defamation and contempt of court.
(Reporting by Bate Felix and Ngouda Dione; Additional reporting by Sofia Christensen and Diadie Ba; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Chris Reese and Leslie Adler)
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