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Senegal Temporarily Closes Consulates Abroad Following Attacks

© AP Photo / Leo CorreaDemonstrators run after police fire tear gas during a protest at a neighborhood in Dakar, Senegal, Saturday, June 3, 2023. The clashes first broke out, later this week, after opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was convicted of corrupting youth and sentenced to two years in prison.
Demonstrators run after police fire tear gas during a protest at a neighborhood in Dakar, Senegal, Saturday, June 3, 2023. The clashes first broke out, later this week, after opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was convicted of corrupting youth and sentenced to two years in prison. - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 07.06.2023
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Senegalese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the country's consulates abroad would be temporarily closed following attacks, including in European and US cities.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Senegalese Abroad informs of a temporary closure of Senegalese consulates abroad. This measure is taken following a series of attacks performed recently against Senegal's diplomatic missions and consulates, including in Paris, Bordeaux, Milan and New York," the ministry said in a statement.
The attacks resulted in significant damage to the diplomatic missions, the ministry said, adding that the consulate general in Milan had been particularly affected, with its machines for making passports and national identity cards completely destroyed.
The consulates will open again as soon as material as well as security conditions allow it, the ministry added.
A student carrying his belongings walks past burned cars as he leaves the Cheikh Anta Diop University after authorities ordered the institution to be closed until further notice, amid clashes between police and supporters of Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, in Dakar, Senegal, Friday, June 2, 2023. - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 06.06.2023
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The move comes as Senegal experiences a wave of protests, that started after Senegalese opposition politician Ousmane Sonko had been sentenced to two years in prison.
Last week, a court in Senegal's capital Dakar found Sonko guilty of "corrupting youth." The complaint against the politician had been filed by a former employee of a beauty salon where he used to receive massages.
However, Sonko was acquitted of the charges of rape and death threats. The trial was held in absentia, and it was up to the prosecutor to decide whether to arrest the politician.
The court's decision jeopardized Sonko's right to run in the next year's presidential election under the country's law, local media reported.
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