In reaction to “a series of recent attacks on the country’s diplomatic and consular missions,” Senegal has decided to temporarily close its consulate offices abroad, the West African Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Senegalese Abroad declared this on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasised in a news release that “this precautionary measure comes in the wake of a number of recent attacks on Senegalese diplomatic and consular missions overseas, particularly in Paris, Bordeaux, Milan, and New York.
“These acts have caused serious damage, in particular at the Consulate General of Senegal in Milan, where the machines used to produce passports and national identity cards were destroyed,” the same source said.
“The service will resume as soon as material and security conditions allow,” the ministry said.
Spontaneous protests followed last Thursday’s sentencing of opposition politician Ousmane Sonko, a declared candidate for the 2024 presidential election, to two years in prison for “corrupting the youth.”
According to the Interior Ministry in Senegal, 500 people were detained as a result of the violence, and a total of 16 people died in Dakar and Ziguinchor.