A significant number of activists detained for several months on various charges related to political activities benefited from provisional release on Thursday, one of their lawyers confirmed.
They were released on the initiative of the prosecutor who had requested their placement under arrest warrant, explained Me Moussa Sarr during a telephone interview.
Me Sarr represents twenty-five of the detainees who benefited from this measure, including members of the dissolved Pastef party and well-known activists in the public space.
The head of state, Macky Sall, recently committed to implementing “a pragmatic process of appeasement and reconciliation to preserve peace and consolidate the stability of the nation”.
He made this announcement the day after unrest caused by the announced postponement of the presidential election initially scheduled for February 25.
Macky Sall announced on February 3 that he had canceled the decree summoning the Senegalese to the polls on February 25 for the election of a new President of the Republic.
In making this decision, he cited suspicions of corruption concerning magistrates among those who examined the 93 application files and deemed 20 of them admissible.
Addressing the nation, the head of state called for “an open national dialogue, in order to create the conditions for a free, transparent and inclusive election in a peaceful and reconciled Senegal”.
The National Assembly voted, two days later, on a parliamentary proposal postponing the presidential election until December 15.
During the vote, deputies protesting against this proposal and the postponement of the vote were expelled from the hemicycle by the National Gendarmerie
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