The defamation trial involving Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko and former tourism minister Mame Mbaye Niang is set to be reopened.

The leader of Pastef, who was hosting a political conference at the Grand Théâtre, made the announcement on Sunday, June 10, 2024.

He said the trial will soon be reopened.

"Because of this issue, I was prevented from being a presidential candidate. This issue has caused deaths and injuries. I was attacked, my car ransacked, my convoy gassed when I had to respond to the summons of justice," he recollects.

In March 2023, the Dakar court handed Pastef leader Ousmane Sonko a six-month suspended sentence in an appeal of a defamation case that might have jeopardised his run for president in 2024. However, in May 2023, Sonko received a suspended six-month sentence for libel stemming from his accusations that the former tourism minister had embezzled funds.

According to Ousmane Sonko, his conviction was at the heart of the invalidation of the latter's candidacy in the last presidential election on March 24.

He added the report which earned him a conviction for defamation does indeed exist.

"The report is on my table. I will make it available to justice. Justice has always denied its existence," the leader of Pastef said.