Senegal’s opposition leader faces another setback in presidential race after application is rejected

By BABACAR DIONE
Associated Press

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegal’s top opposition leader has suffered major setbacks in his quest to contest the presidency when a top court upheld the defamation conviction against him and the Constitutional Council rejected his application to be a presidential candidate on the basis that it was incomplete. Ousmane Sonko’s application case at the council was “examined without his representative (in) a flagrant violation of the law” before it was rejected,  his lawyer, Ciré Cledor Ly, told reporters. The council’s decision came hours after the Supreme Court rejected the jailed opposition leader’s appeal of his conviction for defamation after being sued by a government minister.