#ziguinchor

People at the well in Ziguinchor, Senegal

Hello everyone,

A couple of days ago shit went to hell in different cities in Senegal. Before we get into what happened a couple of days ago, we need to go back to March 2021.

Early March 2021, Ousmane Sonko, the opposition leader of Senegal’s current president, Macky Sall was accused of rape by Adji Sarr. As he was on his way to court, he got arrested. In response, the Senegalese population went out to protest. However, the protests were met with violence from police who used tear gas and guns (with real bullets) against protesters and sometimes even innocent people. The Senegalese government blocked access to the internet to prevent the youth from conspiring and inciting violence. Eventually, Sonko was released and things seemed to go back to normal. However, about 21 young Senegalese people have died during the protests in 2021.

Until a couple of days ago. Last week on Sunday May 28th, the opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was arrested and brought to Dakar from his hometown in Ziguinchor. On Wednesday, prosecutors said they demanded 10 years in prison, but the next day (June 2nd) he was sentenced to two years in jail.

Afterwards, hell broke loose. People have been protesting since but the people have been met with a lot of violence and abuse. Just like in 2021, the government has been blocking access to the internet and certain apps and the current death toll is at 15. I would appreciate it if you can reblog this for visibility and awareness.

If you want to stay updated about what is happening in Senegal, I recommend checking the #FreeSenegal hashtag on Twitter. However TRIGGER WARNING ⚠️ because there are unsettling video’s of violence, blood and I don’t want to traumatize anyone.

If you want to know more about what it happening exactly, I created a story highlight on Instagram. Thank you, and if you are in Senegal: STAY SAFE 🇸🇳 or have loved-ones there I HOPE THEY ARE AND WILL STAY SAFE 🇸🇳.

May God help us all.

African architecture. Ziguinchor.

SENEGAL. Ziguinchor. 2020. A group of boys resting on their transport, attached to a mule used mainly for agricultural work or transporting goods and people.

Playa Cap Skirring by Ángel Hernansáez