A formal request for the lifting of the parliamentary immunity of the Senegalese opposition leader accused of rape has been filed before the National Assembly.

Last week, a woman working at a massage parlor in Dakar accused Ousmane Sonko, an MP of repeated rape and death threats. 

The judicial committee at the National Assembly met on Monday and appointed the PMs who will sit on the ad hoc committee responsible for examining the request of the public prosecutor. The committee is composed of eleven members belonging to different political groups. 

The committee will review the merit of the request filed by the public prosecutor and determine whether to lift the immunity of their colleague.

If they consider the request, Sonko will be open to prosecution for the alleged crimes of rape and death threats.