Senegal’s opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and his presidential candidate Bashirou Diomai Fay, whom he supported in elections postponed this month, have been released.
After their release late Thursday, the pair met with thousands of cheering supporters in the capital Dakar.
Their release followed an amnesty announced by President Macky Sall.
The election will be held on March 24 after an unsuccessful attempt to postpone it to December.”This is the best day of my life,” a supporter of the couple’s release said.
Mr Fay, 44, is one of 19 candidates running in the election and is scheduled to start campaigning this Friday.
He competes with the Diomaie presidential coalition party.
Yassine Fall, deputy leader of Mr Sonko’s disbanded Pastev party, which now supports Mr Fay, said: “We are very happy with their release.” Mr Ousmane Sonko and our candidate Mr. Bakirou Diomai Faye, we can campaign and are confident that we will win. ”
Although Mr Fay has spent several months in prison, he is considered one of the favourites in this month’s election.
He was arrested without trial in April last year on charges including inciting a riot.
Mr Sonko, 49, was one of President Sall’s harshest critics. Last July, he was sentenced to two years in prison on trumped-up charges aimed at disqualifying him from running for president.
He was found to have committed immoral acts against a 20-year-old masseuse but was cleared of rape charges.
His conviction sparked deadly clashes between police and supporters of Mr Sonko’s protests, leaving more than a dozen people dead.
Despite the amnesty, the list of candidates has not changed, meaning Mr Sonko will not participate in the election.
The temperamental opposition politician is particularly popular among unemployed Senegalese youth because of his promises of sweeping reforms.
In the 2019 presidential election, he came in third place with 15% of the vote.
His Pastev party, founded in 2014, was dissolved by the government in July last year after allegations that Sonko and his party had called for an uprising.
Mr Sonko’s critics have accused his movement of stirring up division and tension.
Elections in Senegal were originally scheduled for February 25, but the vote was postponed to March 24 after a court ruling prevented President Sall from postponing it to December.
His ruling coalition, Benno Bok Yakar (BBY), has selected 62-year-old Amadou Ba as its presidential candidate.
He, who served as Senegal’s foreign minister and prime minister until March 6, is also considered one of the frontrunners.
Senegal was considered one of West Africa’s most stable countries.
Still, a series of lawsuits against Sonko and the subsequent postponement of elections have sparked violent protests and widespread social unrest in recent months.