Dakar mayor removed, condemns Senegal 'dictatorship': Video
Authorities in Senegal have removed Dakar’s opposition mayor, Barthelemy Dias, from office, citing a 2011 murder conviction.
The decision, announced in an official order on Friday, has drawn sharp criticism from Dias, who labeled the move a "dictatorship."
The order, issued on Wednesday by the capital's police chief, stated that Dias was "hereby removed from office as a member of the Dakar city council," effectively ending his tenure as mayor. The 49-year-old politician, a vocal critic of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye's government, condemned the decision in remarks to journalists at city hall. However, his press conference was disrupted when police entered the room and ordered everyone to leave.
Elected Dakar mayor in 2022 as part of a coalition that included Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko's Pastef party, Dias remains a prominent opposition figure.
Dias had already been stripped of his parliamentary seat in November following the Supreme Court’s validation of his voluntary homicide conviction. The case stemmed from a 2011 political rally that turned violent, resulting in the death of wrestler Ndiaga Diouf. Dias argued that he acted in self-defense during the incident. Tried alongside a dozen co-defendants, he received a six-month prison term and an 18-month suspended sentence in 2017.
