Senegal. Two arrested for attacks against Sonko over homosexuality
An activist and a preacher were arrested in Dakar after they attacked Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko and his recent comments on homosexuality, a source close to the investigation said on Thursday.
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Mundo Senegal
The two men are being investigated for "spreading false news" and "offending" the head of government, the source added.
Activist Bah Diakhaté, who was arrested on Monday by the Criminal Investigation Division (DIC) of the Judicial Police, attacked Sonko in a video after the latter made a statement on the subject of homosexuality last Thursday.
In another video, preacher Cheikh Ahmed Tidiane Ndao, who was arrested today, also by the DIC, criticises the prime minister for what he denounces as his complacency towards homosexuality.
The debate on homosexuality resurfaced in Senegal after remarks made by Sonko on Thursday during a visit by the radical left-wing French opponent Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Sonko, a defender of sovereignty and pan-Africanism, invoking social concerns and traditional values, criticised attempts by Western countries to impose their way of life on African countries and to promote the legalisation of homosexuality.
Homosexuality is widely considered a deviation in Senegal, where the law punishes acts considered "against nature with an individual of the same sex" with a prison sentence of one to five years.
Sonko called for respect from Western countries for the specific characteristics of African societies, for which "the gender issue is not new", stating that "they manage it in their own way".
"From the beginning of time to the present day, societies have lived with these phenomena and there has never been any persecution, neither here in Senegal nor anywhere else in Africa," he said.
If the fact "is not accepted, it is tolerated", he said.
Religious circles, opponents and activists criticised Sonko for advocating tolerance towards homosexuality and for offering Mélenchon a platform to defend the cause of sexual minorities.
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