<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">The Senegalese capital Dakar braced for potential clashes on Thursday as a court prepared to issue a verdict in the trial of firebrand opposition leader Ousmane Sonko on rape charges.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The two-year case has deeply polarised the West African country with a reputation for tolerance and stability, igniting accusations of political meddling in the judiciary and sparking violent confrontations between Sonko's supporters and the security forces.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sonko, the 48-year-old leader of the PASTEF-Patriots party, has leapt to national prominence on the back of attacks against President Macky Sall.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Throwing down the gauntlet, he declared Tuesday that he was being "illegally held" after security forces swooped on his motorcade at the weekend, urging the public to take to the streets.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Everyone should rise up as one," he said on social media. "Power should remain with the people."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When Sonko was arrested on the charges in 2021, several days of clashes left at least 12 people dead.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Several more have died in sporadic violence this year, including a fatality that occurred at the weekend when police detained Sonko ahead of Thursday's hearing.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sall promised to stand firm in the face of potential violence while calling for a "national dialogue" to ease the tensions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At the heart of the trial are allegations by 23-year-old beauty salon worker Adji Sarr, who accuses Sonko of raping her and making death threats.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sonko denies any wrongdoing, saying that he went to the salon for a massage for chronic back pain and that the case against him is politically motivated.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Conviction for rape in Senegal carries a jail term of 10 to 20 years, a sentence that would bar Sonko from running in next year's presidential election.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sonko surged to national prominence in the 2019, when he came third in the presidential elections after a feisty campaign against Sall and a perceived corrupt elite.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The aftermath of a guilty verdict against Sonko remains unclear.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is not known whether Sonko would be arrested immediately if convicted, or whether he would be able to mobilise crowds to protest such a verdict.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The "dialogue" announced by Sall has driven a wedge into the opposition front, with Sonko saying he would boycott such a meeting while Khalifa Sall, another opposition candidate, has said he will attend.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- 'Dictatorship' -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sonko accuses Sall of plotting a third term in office in defiance of the constitution in order to install a "dictatorship."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He also rails against France, the former colonial power, while presenting himself as a defender of religion and traditional values as a father of six and husband of two wives, calling for example for tougher penalties against same-sex relations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sall's supporters say Sonko is a rabble-rouser who has poisoned the political climate and sown instability.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The trial, whose first two hearings were boycotted by Sonko, has riveted and divided the public in the conservative Muslim country.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Media outlets have focused overwhelmingly on the trial's political consequences and salacious elements in Sarr's testimony, to the dismay of some feminists.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They accuse Sonko of using language that normalises sexual violence and denigrates his accuser.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"If I wanted to rape a woman, I wouldn't choose a brain-damaged monkey," he has said. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>