France, March 5 -- Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko is to appear in court on Monday to answer charges of rape, which his supporters say are politically motivated. His arrest on Wednesday sparked days of widespread street protests and clashes with security forces in Dakar.

Sonko, a figure popular among Senegalese youth, left the courthouse on Friday after a senior judge notified him of rape charges, plus making death threats, and summoned him to appear before the court on Monday, according to reporting from RFI's Charlotte Idrac.

A lawyer acting for Sonko, Abdoulaye Tall, told RFI that he was transferred very early in the morning, and hisclient did not have legal representative during his audience with the judges.

The Senegale...